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The NH House yesterday passed a bill that would remove federal laws and taxes from guns manufactured in the state. Also in the bill is a provision to arrest any law enforcement officer who tries to enforce federal law.
Self-styled constitutional scholar Rep. Daniel Itse (R-Fremont)
"Standing as a firewall against a federal government abusing the citizens of New Hampshire exercising authority not delegated by the Constitution is not only a legitimate power but a constitutional duty," Itse said.
Rep. Itse, is chair of the newly formed House Constitutional Revue and Statutory Recodification Committee, which voted the bill "Ought to Pass" 8-4. It passed the House 240-120. See how your rep voted here. Now that HB125 has been declared constitutional by the Republican majority in the House, it will go to the Commerce Committee.
Quote of the day goes to Gary Richardson (D-Hopkinton), who wrote the minority report for the House Record.
These people are drunk with power, they really are," said Richardson of the House Republicans who gained more than 150 seats and threw the Democrats out of the majority in elections last November.
"There is no court in the world that is going to approve this kind of legislation. It is all politics."
The commerce angle makes just as little sense. NH's large gun manufacturers Sturm Ruger & Co. in Newport, Sigarms Inc. in Exeter and Thompson/Center Arms in Rochester, will not be looking for this "relief" because they operate in the real world. According to the Telegraph, they have contracts with federal law enforcement (irony alert) and other out of state entities.
The bills supporters want to see "mom and pop" gun manufacturers spring up in the state, making guns from scratch and selling them. The thing is, these guns could only be sold in state, and as a commenter to the article noted, with about 1 and a half million people, it's not a money making proposition.
Rep Joshua Davenport (R-Newmarket)thinks the US government is interfering in NH commerce:
"If we permit those tentacles to consume us completely, the monster lifts us up and unmoors us from our constituents. We become a perfunctory," Davenport said.
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