On October 30th, the New Hampshire state Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee sent House Bill 687 to the House floor for further consideration after a motion to kill the bill failed by a vote of 9-11.
House Bill 687, sponsored by Representative Debra Altschiller (D-Rockingham 19), would suspend Second Amendment rights following baseless accusations without adequate due process protections in place. Such orders would be issued after an ex parte hearing where the respondent is not present to challenge allegations made against them or face their accuser.
Further, if the order is vacated after an individual surrenders their firearms, that individual will have to go to court to have their property returned. Because law enforcement would have immunity for any damage done to the firearms while in their possession, there would be no incentive for them to care for the personal property that was seized.
On top of all of this, filing a false order would only be a misdemeanor, while violating an order would be a Class B felony, punishable by up to three and a half to seven years of imprisonment. Such an extreme disparity could lead to false accusations against many law-abiding individuals.
Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org and your email inbox for further updates on this bill and other issues affecting our Second Amendment rights in New Hampshire.
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