NH Law Vetoed

[rscalzo]

Governor vetoes bill to expand use of deadly force By Associated Press


CONCORD, N.H. - Flanked by more than 40 police officers and prosecutors, Gov. John Lynch vetoed legislation Friday that would have made it easier for people to use deadly force in public places.

Current law requires people to retreat from violence in public if it's safe to do so. There are some exceptions _ for example, to prevent kidnapping or rape. There is no requirement to retreat if someone enters a home illegally.

Law enforcement officials said they were afraid innocent bystanders would be hurt if people were given more freedom to use guns or other deadly weapons in public.

Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said the bill also would have given criminals more legal protections. For example, she said, a drug dealer could claim self-defense if he shot at another drug dealer who was trying to rob him but accidentally killed someone else.

 

[MarkM]

That's a shame. I hope I am never in the unfortunate situation where I have to defend myself and then have prosecutors etc second guessing whether I was able to retreat or not.

 

[JonJ]

Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said the bill also would have given criminals more legal protections. For example, she said, a drug dealer could claim self-defense if he shot at another drug dealer who was trying to rob him but accidentally killed someone else.

What a steaming pile of BULLSHIT.

 

[tele_mark]

Things started going downhill when the housing boom and low interest rates made Southern NH attractive to Ma**h***s, and they started electing Dem governors.

Mark, once of Manchester

 

[crak]

Not all of us can be flanked by more than 40 police officers whenever we want.

 

[sdavid]

I was going to post about a moral duty to retreat if possible, but Samuel Adams the fourth stopped by and I really don't want to have to think right now.

Happy Friday.

 

[drgrant]

I guess NH is not going the way of FL and other states that have
seen the light.

If Benson was still in power, he would have signed this into law.

NH is still way the hell better than MA, but things like this make me
think twice about making plans to move there. Doesn't exactly
inspire warm fuzzies when an anti is in power.

-Mike

 

[CaveDog]

Flanked by more than 40 police officers and prosecutors

The same people who made sure he vetoed the bill, I'm sure.

 

[Lynne]

NH may be better than MA, however, remember, the Ma**h***s are moving there, and they're bringing their freeking MA laws and brains with them. They want to escape MA, but they want what they left...go figger.

The South looks better and better every day.

 

[rscalzo]

NH already has a "Castle Doctrine" bill on the books. This expanded the areas of that theory.

 

[CaveDog]

NH may be better than MA, however, remember, the Ma**h***s are moving there, and they're bringing their freeking MA laws and brains with them. They want to escape MA, but they want what they left...go figger.

The South looks better and better every day.

I'm not so sure I blame this one on "mass migration".

I'm generally supportive of law enforcement, but there's little doubt in my mind that LE was directly responsible for the veto. When senator Martel made his "accidental" vote in favor of the bill, he had been spoken to by representatives of LE in the hall just before the vote and hence made it clear he meant to vote against it. LE's influence on the governor's decision is also clear.

Members of New Hampshire's law enforcement community did not want this bill and they obviously successfully lobbied hard against it. Same thing happened with the bill to eliminate the need for CCW licenses.

 

[KMaurer]

Well, since these people are always hiding behind "common sense", how about requiring police to retreat as well? After all, every study ever done shows that police are several times more likely to shoot some innocent bystander than armed citizens are.

Ken

 

[rscalzo]

Because in every state that have the statutory obligation to enforce the laws of that state. Based on that, every state's law expects them not to retreat.

That is the very short version of the Use of Force requirements.

 

[KMaurer]

Thank you, thank you. That's it in a nutshell. Enforcing the laws and maintaining the power of the state is infinitely more important to gun control advocates than the lives of the citizens.

Ken

 

[rscalzo]

Laws

Protection of the citizens is exactly why they have a duty not to retreat.

 

[CaveDog]

Well. At least Lynch signed the Katrina bill.

 

[Coyote33]

So much for that libertarian project where they all move there and take over the voting habits.