Coming up next week and WTF is up with this committee recommendation? I got it, shit happens and people can't attend a hearing, but come on man.
HB 351-FN, relative to the negligent storage of firearms and relative to firearm safety devices.
MAJORITY: OUGHT TO PASS WITH AMENDMENT. MINORITY: INEXPEDIENT TO LEGISLATE.
Rep. David Meuse for the Majority of Criminal Justice and Public Safety. There are few tragedies greater than the negligent death or injury of a child as a result of a firearm being left unattended. Currently, incidents involving firearms are estimated to be the third-leading cause of injury-related death among American children 17 and under. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that each day in America, 8 children and teens are injured or killed in shootings involving an improperly stored or misused gun found in the home. Under existing New Hampshire law, a negligent person who leaves an unsecured firearm in a place where a child gains access to it can only be charged with an offense if the child threatens another person with the weapon, uses it to commit a crime, or discharges it recklessly. This bill would strengthen the current policy by broadening the circumstances constituting an offense to also include displaying the weapon to other children or bringing it into a public place, such as a school. The bill would also strengthen the penalty from a violation to a misdemeanor, or in cases where a child discharges the weapon resulting in the injury or death of the child or another person, the penalty may elevate to a class B felony. Vote 10-9.
Rep. Jonathan Stone for the Minority of Criminal Justice and Public Safety. The minority of the committee, after hearing testimony, decided that there was no compelling government interest provided by the sponsor or any other witness, for upgrading the penalty from a violation to a misdemeanor for the negligent storage of firearms. Federal law has required federal firearm licensees to sell every handgun with a secure gun storage or safety device since 2005. This bill seeks to micro-manage decisions by citizens about how they choose to store their firearms and ammunition. New Hampshire is routinely determined to be one of, it not the, safest states in the country. New Hampshire citizens know how to safely store their firearms and be prepared to defend their homes at the same time without the government telling them how to. No one from New Hampshire law enforcement asked for this bill or any change in the current law.