HB307:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_st ... &inflect=2

Senate passes bill blocking local firearms restrictions

Democrats speaking on the Senate floor decried the bill’s enforcement mechanisms, which include the ability for a resident to sue a violating town for $10,000 in damages, and which empower the governor to remove a local official from office.

“It retains extreme punitive elements to our preemption law … to intimidate and punish local communities and school districts that establish or enforce common-sense firearms and knife regulations,” said Sen. Becky Whitley, a Hopkinton Democrat.

Republicans say the bill will force towns to take the limits of their authority seriously.

Town are attempting to pass their own restrictions.

Current statute:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/htm ... 159-26.htm

159:26 Firearms, Ammunition, and Knives; Authority of the State. –
I. To the extent consistent with federal law, the state of New Hampshire shall have authority and jurisdiction over the sale, purchase, ownership, use, possession, transportation, licensing, permitting, taxation, or other matter pertaining to firearms, firearms components, ammunition, firearms supplies, or knives in the state. Except as otherwise specifically provided by statute, no ordinance or regulation of a political subdivision may regulate the sale, purchase, ownership, use, possession, transportation, licensing, permitting, taxation, or other matter pertaining to firearms, firearms components, ammunition, or firearms supplies in the state. Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting a political subdivision's right to adopt zoning ordinances for the purpose of regulating firearms or knives businesses in the same manner as other businesses or to take any action allowed under RSA 207:59.

II. Upon the effective date of this section, all municipal ordinances and regulations not authorized under paragraph I relative to the sale, purchase, ownership, use, possession, transportation, licensing, permitting, taxation, or other matter pertaining to firearms, firearm components, ammunition, firearms supplies, or knives shall be null and void.

DispositionMatrix wrote: Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:31 am HB307:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_st ... &inflect=2

Senate passes bill blocking local firearms restrictions

Democrats speaking on the Senate floor decried the bill’s enforcement mechanisms, which include the ability for a resident to sue a violating town for $10,000 in damages, and which empower the governor to remove a local official from office.

“It retains extreme punitive elements to our preemption law … to intimidate and punish local communities and school districts that establish or enforce common-sense firearms and knife regulations,” said Sen. Becky Whitley, a Hopkinton Democrat.

Republicans say the bill will force towns to take the limits of their authority seriously.

Town are attempting to pass their own restrictions.

Current statute:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/htm ... 159-26.htm

159:26 Firearms, Ammunition, and Knives; Authority of the State. –
I. To the extent consistent with federal law, the state of New Hampshire shall have authority and jurisdiction over the sale, purchase, ownership, use, possession, transportation, licensing, permitting, taxation, or other matter pertaining to firearms, firearms components, ammunition, firearms supplies, or knives in the state. Except as otherwise specifically provided by statute, no ordinance or regulation of a political subdivision may regulate the sale, purchase, ownership, use, possession, transportation, licensing, permitting, taxation, or other matter pertaining to firearms, firearms components, ammunition, or firearms supplies in the state. Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting a political subdivision's right to adopt zoning ordinances for the purpose of regulating firearms or knives businesses in the same manner as other businesses or to take any action allowed under RSA 207:59.

II. Upon the effective date of this section, all municipal ordinances and regulations not authorized under paragraph I relative to the sale, purchase, ownership, use, possession, transportation, licensing, permitting, taxation, or other matter pertaining to firearms, firearm components, ammunition, firearms supplies, or knives shall be null and void.

Cordell Johnston, the government affairs counsel at the New Hampshire Municipal Association, sees the law in a darker light. To Johnston, the bill would close off the one area in which he says towns do have the authority to regulate firearms: their own property.

But the disciplinary measures and fines against town officials pose an even bigger problem, Johnston argued.

“Town selectmen are volunteers,” he said. “…With rare exceptions, they’re not legal experts. They’re not lawyers. And they’re not intimately familiar with the limits of town authority. And so towns inadvertently pass ordinances all the time that may not be within their authority.”

A town might pass a rent-control policy it’s not authorized to, or a speed limit that isn’t allowed. In cases where the policy is not legal, a resident may take the matter to court and strike the ordinance down, Johnston noted.

If there isn't a town attorney checking bills before they pass, then towns should accept the financial consequences of recklessly making laws that are illegal. Ignorance is not defense. And why should residents be victims of poor law making.

highdesert wrote: Thu Jan 27, 2022 12:46 pm

DispositionMatrix wrote: Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:31 am HB307:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_st ... &inflect=2

Senate passes bill blocking local firearms restrictions

Democrats speaking on the Senate floor decried the bill’s enforcement mechanisms, which include the ability for a resident to sue a violating town for $10,000 in damages, and which empower the governor to remove a local official from office.

“It retains extreme punitive elements to our preemption law … to intimidate and punish local communities and school districts that establish or enforce common-sense firearms and knife regulations,” said Sen. Becky Whitley, a Hopkinton Democrat.

Republicans say the bill will force towns to take the limits of their authority seriously.

Town are attempting to pass their own restrictions.

Current statute:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/htm ... 159-26.htm

159:26 Firearms, Ammunition, and Knives; Authority of the State. –
I. To the extent consistent with federal law, the state of New Hampshire shall have authority and jurisdiction over the sale, purchase, ownership, use, possession, transportation, licensing, permitting, taxation, or other matter pertaining to firearms, firearms components, ammunition, firearms supplies, or knives in the state. Except as otherwise specifically provided by statute, no ordinance or regulation of a political subdivision may regulate the sale, purchase, ownership, use, possession, transportation, licensing, permitting, taxation, or other matter pertaining to firearms, firearms components, ammunition, or firearms supplies in the state. Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting a political subdivision's right to adopt zoning ordinances for the purpose of regulating firearms or knives businesses in the same manner as other businesses or to take any action allowed under RSA 207:59.

II. Upon the effective date of this section, all municipal ordinances and regulations not authorized under paragraph I relative to the sale, purchase, ownership, use, possession, transportation, licensing, permitting, taxation, or other matter pertaining to firearms, firearm components, ammunition, firearms supplies, or knives shall be null and void.

Cordell Johnston, the government affairs counsel at the New Hampshire Municipal Association, sees the law in a darker light. To Johnston, the bill would close off the one area in which he says towns do have the authority to regulate firearms: their own property.

But the disciplinary measures and fines against town officials pose an even bigger problem, Johnston argued.

“Town selectmen are volunteers,” he said. “…With rare exceptions, they’re not legal experts. They’re not lawyers. And they’re not intimately familiar with the limits of town authority. And so towns inadvertently pass ordinances all the time that may not be within their authority.”

A town might pass a rent-control policy it’s not authorized to, or a speed limit that isn’t allowed. In cases where the policy is not legal, a resident may take the matter to court and strike the ordinance down, Johnston noted.

If there isn't a town attorney checking bills before they pass, then towns should accept the financial consequences of recklessly making laws that are illegal. Ignorance is not defense. And why should residents be victims of poor law making.

If the quotes in the article are accurate, per Democrats, the harm they're claiming is a combination of being persecuted for a) passing "common-sense" illegal laws and b) ignorance of the limits of the municipal jobs for which they were elected.

Until there are repercussions for town officials passing laws in violation of state law, municipal elected officials will keep trying to function as activists to boost their profiles for state runs.

Agreed. I think there's a similar thing going on in Florida with regard to illegal laws passed by municipalities, something to the effect that those who passed it or signed it into law can be held personally financially responsible in court. I also seem to recall reading in that same article that illegal local statutes started getting repealed at a much accelerated rate afterwards.

I wish we had that sort of thing here in Virginia. Local municipalities try to pass illegal statutes all the time. I remember back when we still had statewide preemption here in VA, when Fairfax County passed a 3-day waiting period on all gun purchases from a gun show. What they were actually trying to do was an effective shutdown of a major gun show in a place called Chantilly, VA. This is one of the larger gun shows in VA and is located in Fairfax County. The VCDL sued and got the County to back down and repeal it.

In 2020, the Democrat majorities in the State House of Delegates and State Senate passed a repeal of statewide preemption. You can guess what happened. The Democrat-run areas of VA immediately passed restrictions on gun-carry, and some of them are downright onerous. VA is now like New York State with a dangerous patchwork of differing laws, depending on the political party running the municipality.

Now, the Republicans have regained control of the House of Delegates. There's a bill in now to reinstate statewide preemption, and I really hope it goes forward. Some Democrats in VA are worried about the Republican wins here in November 2021, so there's now *slightly* more willingness to negotiate now re: respecting 2A rights than there was before. Not much more, but a little. The Dems still have a 1-seat majority in the State Senate, so that slightly increased willingness might just be enough, at least on that particular point. I sure hope so.