Posted on 01/15/2011 5:04:55 AM PST by marktwain
CONCORD, N.H. — As a state representative, Al Baldasaro says he has been physically threatened multiple times. But he has always felt a measure of safety because New Hampshire’s laws permit him to carry a concealed weapon.
“This is why we are the safest state in the country,’’ said the former Marine, whose grandfather was mayor of Cambridge.
Now, the Republican says he feels even safer after legislators voted last week to overturn a ban on weapons in the State House and permit concealed weapons on the House floor and in the visitors’ gallery.
The moves were bold symbolic statements on gun rights driven by a slate of new pro-gun Republicans in the New Hampshire House. In the aftermath of a shooting rampage in Arizona over the weekend that left a congresswoman in critical condition and six others dead, they have taken on a grim practicality for some lawmakers who say threats of violence have become a fact of elected office.
Republicans said the shootings underscored the need for self-protection.
“It hasn’t changed my view at all,’’ said Baldasaro, who added that the tragedy in Arizona might have been averted. “The shame is that not one person had a gun.’’
New Hampshire is now one of seven states that allow weapons in a capitol, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
I thought Varmint, er, Vermont was even looser in its gun policies than NH. It’s also gayer... maybe the two cancel out?
Sounds great.
The visitor’s gallery though? Anyone else think that’s kinda edgy?
I’m looking for a reference that lists all the states, next to all the issues that would make a conservative choose them for home, such as taxes, right to work, % conservative republicans in the legislature, gun laws, general ethos
Anyone know of such a reference?
CHICAGO
“How can we have civility today when anyone in America has a right to a gun in their home, in their street? Any place in America? We’re missing the point,” said Mayor Daley. “All the sudden we have to talk about a tragedy about civility. It’s a tragedy that Martin Luther King knew and he had. He saw tragedy throughout his whole life. But he was nonviolent and he ended up a victim. And today in America the right to a gun says, ‘I have more rights than anyone else. And to me that is a sad expression as we celebrate 25 years of this interfaith breakfast.’” Watch Daley’s Full Speech”
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7898280
"I don't think it's unreasonable in a chamber like the House, in this a day and age, when rhetoric gets very heated,'' said Terie Norelli, the a Democratic minority leader.Translation: We leftists are such weak-minded, weak-willed, suckfish that we can't control our emotions and we assume everyone else is like us. We don't have enough self-control to be allowed firearms, so no one should be allowed firearms.
Democrats also said they are concerned about the impact that gun a sightings will have on the 27,000 fourth-graders who visit the State a House annually as part of the New Hampshire history curriculum.Translation: It's for the children!
"So of course I am cautious,'' he said. "I make sure I know how to a duck and run.'' But permitting weapons into the State House, he said, a was not the answer."And wet my panties as I'm running away!"
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