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New Hampshire bill aims to prevent Katrina-style gun seizures

DadaOrwell

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Here's Another piece of New Hampshire news I'd like to get the DP take on.:

January 2, 2006
Concord, N.H.

Concerned by perceived abuses of Federal power during the Katrina crisis, New Hampshire state reps are reviewing a bill which would criminalize certain weapons seizures - even if the perpetrators are Federal officers. House Bill 1639-FN, prohibits the confiscation of lawfully owned and lawfully carried firearms during a state of emergency, making a felon of any law enforcement officer who attempts to seize such a firearm during a disaster.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Paul Hopfgarten at the request of local Free Staters - members of a group trying to recruit freedom lovers to New Hampshire and turn it into an even more libertarian state than it already is (www.freestateproject.org).

The bill reads: "Any law enforcement officer, person acting as a law enforcement officer, or other public official who confiscates or attempts to confiscate lawfully carried or lawfully owned firearms in this state during a declared state of emergency
shall be charged with a class A felony."

In the chaos following Hurricane Katrina, various government agencies - including Federal Marshalls - made systematic
attempts to sweep New Orleans of guns - even if that meant entering the homes of law abiding gun owners. The move did not cause widespread outrage in most states. But New Hampshire residents reacted by burning a FEMA flag in front of a local Federal building. They also circulated a petition pledging resistance if such a move were ever attempted in the "Live Free or Die" state....a place where guns are part of the culture and gun laws are the second-loosest in the nation.

Activists say whether it passes or not, this "Gun Protection Bill" is one more small thing they can do to try and protect themselves from disarmament at the hands of any government, during a time when they believe they will need their weapons most.

Bill text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2006/hb1639.html
Information regarding the date and time of the bill hearing:
http://forum.soulawakenings.com/index.php?topic=2550.0
Media coverage of FEMA flag burn:
http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050922/REPOSITORY/509220363/1001/NEWS01
 
Gotta love it.

And what is their state motto again?


They rock.
 
Simon W. Moon said:
Gotta love it.

And what is their state motto again?


They rock.
Live free or die. Hell yea!!!!!!!!!!

But seriously, there is a difference between New Hampshire and New Orleans. How many crazy crackhead gang members live in New Hampshire? Since Houston took some of the evacuees in, our murder rate has gone up more than 25 percent. I am strongly in favor of the Second Amendment but not for crackheads, rapists, or murderers. Never mind, let them have their guns. Gives me more of a reason to shoot a few of them down if they try a home invasion on me.

Crackhead: Gimme your precious valuables.

Me: Lead is very precious in this house. Its all yours.
 
>>But seriously, there is a difference between New Hampshire and New Orleans. How many crazy crackhead gang members live in New Hampshire?>>

Well not many, but one of the reasons for that is we have real gun freedom and Louisiana doesn't.

Thanks for the kind words btw everyone.
 
Here's the latest: The House Committee hearing the bill has voted 13-5 to recommend that the bill not pass.

However it must still go before the full House on March 7, where such recommendations are sometimes overturned.

Primarily this "no" vote stems from concerns that this would have a chilling affect on a policeman's ability to briefly secure a weapon from a person while trying to determine whether it is "lawfully borne." An amended version may come into play next year that addresses this concern, and in the meantime I understand several other state legislatures have initiated copycat legislation, or at least legislation that is similar. We'll see how these do. It's a start!

More details are on the NHfree.com forums:

http://forum.soulawakenings.com/index.php?topic=2550.0
 
The only freak accident we'll have up here is if the rest of franconia notch (the old man of the mountain) comes tumbling down, or a giant snowstorm, or if the hippies from vermont decide to invade.

Other than that, yes we do rock.
 
OK here is the latest on this issue...the New Hampshire House bill I originally told you guys about earlier this year got voted down in commitee. However the Senate made a version of their own, somewhat less controvesial. It passed, and New Hampshire's governor has signed it! Yeehaah!!!!!

It becomes law July 14.

Here is an article about it on the Gun Owners of New Hampshire website:


-----

http://gonh.org/

SB348 "Katrina" Bill Signed by Governor on May 15
the "Katrina" no-emergency-gun-confiscation bill was signed into law on May 15.

The new law, a paragraph added to RSA 4:46 <http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/I/4/4-46.htm> pertaining to the taking of private property during a state of emergency, is as follows:
I-a. Under no circumstances shall this section be construed to authorize the taking, confiscation, or seizure of firearms, ammunition, or ammunition components.

This will go into effect in 60 days, on July 14.
RSA 4:46 <http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/I/4/4-46.htm> has a penalty provision of a Class B felony in paragraph VI:

VI. Any person who willfully takes possession of, or attempts to take possession of, property, purporting to act under this section but without authority to so act, whether by false pretense or otherwise, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a class B felony if a natural person, or guilty of a felony if any other person, and 1/2 of any fine imposed shall be paid to the owner of the property and 1/2 to the county.
In light of the ongoing flooding emergency in our state, this is encouraging news.
----
 
I happen to think this is brilliant 2nd Amendment support, but I wonder what the opinions of the opponents of the bill are. I imagine they have to do with the safety of police, or the notion of paniced gun-owners during an emergency...
 
Update:

New Hampshire's wep-seizure-prevention-bill-become-law went into effect last month.

On a related note I got one of the Fed Marshalls on the phone who was in New Orleans, but based here in NH. His name is Gary Dimartino, although I may have the spelling wrong. He is a supervisor. Asked him about the wep seizures and specifically the article below.

I told him that I appreciated his return of my phone call and that I knew there were probably many good things that he had done over the last months which I know nothing about, and that I realize there is some unfairness in the fact that I only call to complain, but that I appreciate whatever good he may have done.

I told him I felt New Orleans was an example of a bad thing, and he got kind of excited and said "we did a lot of good things there," he said there might be other things the weren't good but NO was not one of them. I went a week without sleep, he said. I told him I believed him, but that mixed in with the good was some bad stuff. I mentioned to him the sept. 8 2005 washington post article at

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/08/AR2005090802089.html

regarding a bar owner in the dry part of NO who had prepared well and had a generator, and an open bar:

"But on Wednesday night, Guidos said, armed federal agents identifying themselves as U.S. marshals confiscated her weapons and ordered her and six friends to leave by noon Thursday.

'When you get 15 M-16s pointed at you and they line you up against the wall, it's kind of scary,' said Guidos, 55."

He denied knowledge of this. I asked him to do whatever was in his power to keep this kind of thing from happening twice.
 
1) one of the few sane things that ever came out of Cynthia McKinney's mouth was demanding to know who suspened the second amendment in New Orleans

2) if a cop takes a lawfully owned firearm away, and the citizen is then attacked, a BIVENS federal constitutional tort claim or a 42 USC 1983 civil rights action should be properly brought against the cop and his employing agency. The Supreme court has held that police do not have a duty to protect you from crime except in SPECIAL circumstances (like a witness testifying against the mob). IF the police disarm you then the burden should shift and if you get hurt, the police should be individually and collectively liable

3) In SOME RARE cases, I would NO BILL a citizen who fired on an officer seeking to disarm him.
 
TurtleDude said:
IF the police disarm you then the burden should shift and if you get hurt, the police should be individually and collectively liable

I'll be sure to notify their widow of your good intentions. :roll:

Do you perhaps realize that there is no "after the fact" when you really need a gun and don't have one ??

Cops think they have the right to disarm anyone they question, and this action explicitly violates the second and the fourth. If you aren't man enough to police an armed society, move or work somewhere else.
 
Voidwar said:
I'll be sure to notify their widow of your good intentions. :roll:

Do you perhaps realize that there is no "after the fact" when you really need a gun and don't have one ??

Cops think they have the right to disarm anyone they question, and this action explicitly violates the second and the fourth. If you aren't man enough to police an armed society, move or work somewhere else.

agreed-any cop who doesn't trust honest citizens with the same gun we taxpayers provide to the cops shouldn't have a job in law enforcement
 
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