Regarding SB141: There are serious unintended consequences to this legislation:
First here are the reasons to pass this bill:
1. The NH Gun Line (NHGL) has been slow for decades (Was true but performance has been significantly improved)
2. The NHGL has gone on fishing expeditions to explore peoples history without authorization (was true but issue was eliminated)
3. It costs the NH citizens somewhere between $250K and $850k a year to operate (True, but if it goes to Uncle Sam, we pay that same amount plus interest as 40%+ of the federal operating budget is borrowed. They are stealing from your other pocket.
Reasons to keep it:
1. Although the Federal government has [stolen (Not in Article 1, section 8)] the authority to mandate background checks, they currently do not the have the responsibility for handgun approvals. We would cede to them additional ground if we repealed our point of contact. When has giving the Federal government more control of your life been a good thing???
2. The NHGL has direct access to the NICS set of databases (NICS,NCIC,III) . The operators make the final determination on names on NCIC and III and if you are on the NICS index you are automatically denied. Currently the NICS line has a 10% delay status, the NHGL has a 3% delay status.
3. While this is true "If the NICS databases are taken off line, no one will be able to purchase a firearm." the police use the NCIC, III for things other than firearms approvals and those databases will not go off line. As for NICS, the staff could be slowed down at the FBI call center and NH would have faster times.
4. The FBI is a division of the US DOJ: The US DOJ reports to Merrick Garland: He is the most Anti-Gun AG that we have every had.
Here is a letter from Mike Hammond (Gun Owners of America) on the US AG:
Supreme Court nominee had 4 chances to vote against gun rights, and he took them all.
www.usatoday.com
"Merrick Garland really is anti-gun: Column
Supreme Court nominee had 4 chances to vote against gun rights, and he took them all.
Michael E. Hammond
The usual gaggle of anti-gun suspects has come out of the woodwork to attack the “gun lobby” for its opposition to any action on behalf of Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.
Hand guns for sale in Mesa, Ariz.
Coupled with their typical protestations that their attacks on Second Amendment advocates are not attacks on the Second Amendment itself, their words are laden with half-truths and selectively culled “facts.”
But the truth is simple. Second Amendment issues have come before Garland, at least four times. He voted anti-gun every time".... (click on the link for more)
5. With the NHGL, we can get real documentation on why someone was denied. (Without finger prints, without a SSN and without waiting 30 days) A stop by their office gets real time feedback. Some attorneys don't like this as it cuts off a revenue stream...
6. Actual average response time is now sub 5 minutes. If you do not believe this, go to a gun store and watch a few transactions... FWIW, Since I have been involved with a group that was insisting that the Department of Safety clean up their act, the delays have gone from several days to 4 minutes and 15 seconds per transaction (Average transaction time: Month of May for 46 transactions on Fridays and Saturdays). I have the data from one dealer to prove my point and I have been to several others and watched their transaction times.
The proponents of the bill are blinded by their hatred of the DOS, but fail to grasp the harms in having the FBI as the only point of contact. They seem to trust the Federal government to be a better protector of our rights.. History has proven that the Federal Government is NOT a very good advocate for individual liberty.
Bottom-line, is we have zero control at the FBI and just a small amount of control at the state level.
If Merrick Garland short staffs the FBI, we have a backup to allow hand gun purchases, unless you get rid of it. Best solution is to require performance in Statute and require reporting metrics.
The bad news is this bill has cost the pro-liberty community the balance of the good bills this year as the entire gun community is split over what to do. There is no win in a "lesser of two evils" discussion when it is not clear that this is the lesser of evils option.
PS. One of the proponents for this bill owns and has re-registered Moms Demand Action NH a second time in 2019. Claimed that it was to shut them down... AFAIK, they are still operating and there is no public lawsuit attempting to shut them down: