There’s a family fight brewing up in New Hampshire and like many inter-family fights, this one is getting nasty. At issue is SB 244, a proposed bill in the state senate that would require people with court-determined mental illness to be added to the NICS system as ineligible to purchase a gun from a FFL. Specifically people who fall into the one of the following categories would have their gun purchase rights suspended . . .
- Found incompetent to stand trial
- Found not guilty by reason of insanity
- Having a court-appointed guardian
- Involuntarily committed to a mental health facility.
I chose the word, “suspended” very carefully because the proposed legislation also has a proscribed and unambiguous procedure by which a person can have their name removed from NICS once their mental health has improved. Today, there is no practical way to do that as people like James Bryant, a NH resident found out when he suffered a mental breakdown a few years ago and has since been fighting to restore his gun rights.
While the proposed law appears to be carefully constructed with very specifically defined criteria, some advocates already see potential pitfalls. Michael Skibbie of the Disability Rights Center noted that lawmakers should rethink the list of qualifiers. Examples he raised is the shoplifter found incompetent to stand trial or the bankrupt person who gets a court-appointed financial guardian; neither of which would qualify as a “dangerous” person. State Rep. John Burt, R-Goffstown goes even further suggesting that the bill is the start of a movement to disarm the United States, as was done in Australia and England. “This bill will lead to that, I have no doubt,” he said.
What makes this little battle somewhat unusual is the way this proposed bill is playing out with various gun rights organizations. Gun Owners of NH (GO-NH) is the state NRA affiliate organization. Pro-Gun New Hampshire is one of the state’s ‘independent’ gun rights organizations and is often seen criticizing the NRA and GO-NH for caving in on gun rights issues. Finally, there is the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition, which bills itself as the state’s “only NO-COMPROMISE gun rights organization.” Predictably, the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition is against SB 244 as it is against any infringement of any kind. GO-NH is also opposed to the measure which is surprising given the fact that the NSSF and the NRA-ILA are in favor of the bill. Most surprising however, is that Pro-Gun New Hampshire has taken a position in favor of this legislation.
The national Gun Owners of America (GOA) group has also waded into the morass. There has been a good deal of nastiness between Pro-Gun NH and GOA with Pro-Gun NH responding to an email blast from GOA that they claim is full of misleading information about SB-44. It’s worth taking a few minutes to read GOA’s blast and Pro-Gun NH’s response.
Who’s right? That depends on your own personal position on firearms regulation. Those who believe that any infringement is unconstitutional will oppose this and other bills like it. Those who have chosen to accept that regulation of firearms is an unsavory, but unavoidable fact of life will likely take a close look at this bill and see if it offers any real gains in exchange for the new limitations it imposes.
In my mind, the more interesting story is the disagreement between passionate second amendment supporters over this issue. Even more interesting is that both sides appear to be using the tools of the anti-gun lobby – misinformation, misunderstanding, and mischaracterization of the opposing position to further their arguments with their respective constituencies.
It brings to mind one of Benjamin Franklin’s famous sayings – “We must all hang together or we will surely hang separately.” I, for one hope that the various gun rights organizations can settle their differences and figure out a way to work together. Otherwise, the gun rights movement might splinter the way the Republican Party has and we will be left with a weaker bulwark for our rights.
It will be an interesting fight to watch.
We have had enough “compromise” in this country. I hope they kill this bill dead.
Exactly. When you’re thinking about this just keep in mind the following question, when have those that would deny us this right ever operated with any level of ‘good faith’.
Instead of looking for ways to disarm us, they should be looking for ways to help those that need mental health care. As has been said here many times before, if you can’t be trusted with a gun, you can’t be trusted without a guardian.
I’m sure that plaque will hit the round file once they get out of Ttags sight
This Bill is BullSh#t – Bull Excrement – The libs/commies start with mental illness. Since the term “mental illness” is broad the libs redefine the parameters later to include any gun owner who got an aspirin from a walgreens to mean that owner now has a mental illness. That’s what was supposed to happen with the manchin-toomey bill, that’s how the game is played. Time & time again that’s the playbook, they’re gonna say “oh its only this small thing …” next thing you know we’re saying “WTF what happened!!!” Then we’re James Bryant going to court fighting for our rights that was originally ours in the first place.
Bill that is bullsh!t.
Billsh!t, new term.
Sounds like they just need to clarify the language a bit. Frankly, many rights can be curtailed, but only through due process.
I think the presence of armed good guys is far more important than additional gun restrictions which give the tactical advantage to psychos. This law or others like it wouldn’t have stopped Adam Lanza or James Holmes, so I have no expectation that it will be useful. At the very least, the pro-gun groups should be pushing for an expansion of gun rights somewhere else if they were even to conceive of this as a compromise.
I don’t see psychos of any sort shooting up gun ranges, but they do seem to have an affinity for gun free zones.
And the police.
If this unit is good it will cause a lot of heartburn for Burris Fastfire and Deltapoint.
Short joke
An irish guy walks past a bar……
$75 Million dollars will get you 1,250 armed police officers in the schools making $60,000/year. Instead they are going to waste $75 million dollars “researching” effective solutions. Awesome.
How many schools would 1250 armed police officers be able to protect? There are over 98,000 public schools in U.S. Each officer would have to handle over 80 schools… At the same time.
While I don’t think they are spending the money wisely, those 1250 officers wouldn’t even touch the problem.
The Weinstein company has put out some good films, as has Matt Damon. Too bad they’re all idiots.
There are two camps on this issue; Those that know less than 4% of anyone ever diagnosed with mental illness are violent to themselves, or others (smaller % still), and those who are ignorant of this fact, willfully or otherwise. Mental illness is a legislation is a Faustian bargain.
Where guns or speech are concerned, never let in legislation that later allows for the institutional redefinition of the terms in question without due process. Otherwise we will all wake up one day and find we all have been classified as mentally ill domestic terrorists.
Also people who are too stupid and ignorant of history to realize that punitive psychiatry is a thing.
If bed-wetters are still able to buy guns then I have no problem with it.
Whenever Any man’s rights are trodden on, the rights of us all are damaged irrevocably. When the first link of the first chain is forged, it binds us all.
“The Security Industry Association (SIA) supports the inclusion of a new school safety initiative in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014…”
Of course. Throw money we don’t have at expensive, difficult answers to problems that could be solved with easy, inexpensive solutions. It’s the American way. And it’s for
our members’ exclusive enrichmentthe children…This belongs on my T3. I can’t wait!
Maybe this will force the price of the Fastfire down a little. Seems to have been creeping up since I bought mine. I think I paid right around 200 bucks for it a few years ago.
For Rockon** check out the S&W C.O.R.E. setup on their M&P. Pretty much the same setup and they have some tall iron sights that co-witness. If your dot goes down just look at the front sight. A lot of people using those in action pistol matches and some of the local L.E. guys on their duty rigs too. As far as racking the slide…just grab the sight. They are that tough.
Look at all those cool scopes Id have to take second mortgage to afford.
The federal government allowed pilots to begin carrying pistols after 9/11, in addition to the myriad of other measures. Why? So they could protect themselves, their passengers and the plane. It boggles the mind as to why they will not similarly empower teachers and school administrators to protect their students with the best tool for the job. I know a handful of districts have taken this step, but it’s not nearly enough. It’s just sad that anti-gun politics trump something that would really make schools safer.
They’ve made a bigger, heavier, bulkier, uglier stock. Oh boy! Sign me up!
I don’t really “love” guns. What I love is liberty and the right to choose whether or not I own a gun.
I’ve always loved to tinker with machines. When I was put out of work by muscular dystrophy I needed something to do, and a way to protect myself since nature took about 50% of my muscle mass away. Add to that the need for light muscle use to keep what’s left, and the perfect solution is called a “Glock.”
I’ve loved guns, pretty much all weapons really, for as long as I’ve been alive. Fighting too, physical competition really pushes some button for me.
I love guns like an eight year old likes a big shiny truck. I’m not sure I understand why, there wasn’t a lot of thinking that went into it, it has always just been a fact for me.
Holeee crap. 10-20 months? Really?
I wonder what the sentence would have been had it been the judges son.
Can’t see the picture, does this thing have a pistol grip?
Ga, why won’t hogue make one of there’s for this baby?
I have a build in the works now and all it needs is a quality stock replacement for Ruger’s Kmart special.
I really wish I could just get a simple stock without everything being “tactical.”
Maybe tactical solutions will make one of their laminate designsfor this.
I love my life and the lives of my loved ones. That’s why I love guns.
I’m waiting for a quad-barrel AR15.
Sorry, Santa. You are not getting them back.
Now all I need is some duplex .223 ammunition so I can double my rounds fired while doubling my rounds fired.
Question Of The Evening: Adam Kokesh or Leonard Embody? Let’s hear it.
Okay so it’s JMB’s baby in mall ninja form. It’s ugly, it’s blasphemous, it’s expensive.
And I fucking want it. Want it so hard. Especially if it can handle modern .30-06 loads. This makes the M1A I’ve been lusting for look like a lightweight.
Typical mayor of MAIG. Bloomberg probably does it too – just doesn’t get caught and doesn’t leave behind witnesses or evidence.
He’s not shooting it off.
He put the edge of the cap against the end of the magazine and is pulling against it. The stock is against his leg/hip, the bounce from his leg/hip after recoil moves the shotgun forward and pops the cap off.