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To the New Hampshire Legislature: Please override the anti-self-defense veto of Gov. John Lynch. As a defense attorney, I have represented many individuals who never fired a shot but displayed or pointed a firearm in self-defense. I can assure you that New Hampshire citizens need Senate Bill 88. Actually we need much stronger protective language, but this is the language the committee passed. The Officer Friendly that you see is not how many of these cops behave around citizens who have had to use a firearm to save themselves or others from harm. In one case, the police charged a...

The veto of Senate Bill 88 should be overridden by the Legislature. This castle doctrine legislation does not and would not allow criminals to use a firearm (probably already obtained illegally) in an illegal act, such as shooting another gang member to use this legislation as a means to escape justice. It does not even permit law-abiding citizens who legally own firearms to fire in self-defense without accountability to whether deadly force was imminent and whether it may have even been appropriate under those circumstances to use a firearm (e.g., a crowded street filled with citizens). Only the criminals and...

DOVER, NH — Local law enforcement officials in support of Gov. John Lynch’s veto of a bill that would allow citizens to use deadly force in self-defense with civil immunity say they’re not only satisfied with the current law, but are concerned the new bill would produce unintended consequences. SB 88, which would allow a person to use deadly force to protect themselves or a third party and face civil immunity in certain circumstances, was vetoed earlier this year by Lynch, who has been vocal in his view that the bill would make the job of law enforcement more difficult....

When the New Hampshire Legislature reconvenes this fall to take up the governor’s vetoes, one of the bills that appears almost certain to be overridden is SB 88, which would broaden an individual’s right to use deadly force to defend oneself in public. The House of Representatives approved the final version of the bill, 283-89, while the Senate followed suit on a 19-5 vote – both comfortably beyond the two-thirds majorities lawmakers need to override Gov. John Lynch’s veto. Just because they can, however, doesn’t mean they should. This bill is as unnecessary as it is unwise, and we urge...

A second degree felony charge of burglary of a habitation escalated into a first degree felony charge of aggravated robbery for three Mount Pleasant men this morning after gunshots were exchanged between the suspects and the caretaker of the building. “Burglars need to realize that if they don’t want to get shot, they shouldn’t be breaking into people’s homes,” said Titus County Sheriff Tim Ingram, who said charges would not be pursued against the caretaker of Mr. Pat’s Emporium who defended both his boss’ property and his own life this morning during a shootout with burglary suspects. The call for...

“The sure foundations of the state are laid in knowledge, not in ignorance; and every sneer at education, at culture, at book learning, which is the recorded wisdom of the experience of mankind, is the demagogue's sneer at intelligent liberty, inviting national degeneracy and ruin.”~George William Curtis, Author, Social Reformer (1824-1896) Governor John Lynch vetoed Senate Bill 88 yesterday, once again affirming allegiance to yet another unelected, unaccountable constituency: The New Hampshire Police Chiefs Association. Despite thirty-one states adopting "stand your ground" laws and eliminating such duties to retreat, Lynch takes his counsel from those who think of themselves as...

CONCORD – Gov. John Lynch vetoed four bills Wednesday including one to expand a resident’s right to defend himself in public using deadly force (SB 88). “SB 88 would unleash the potential for increasing deadly violence in our communities,” Lynch wrote in his veto message. “It would allow the use of deadly force on street corners, in shopping malls, public parks and in retail stores. Drug dealers and other felons who brandish weapons will be further emboldened to use their weapons, while prosecution of those criminals will be made more difficult because of this bill’s expansion of the right to...

Gov. John Lynch has a chance to make sure that no other Granite Stater winds up in the position in which Moultonborough farmer Ward Bird famously found himself. Bird had an angry encounter with a female stranger on his own property. He said he drew an unloaded pistol, but never pointed it at her. She said he pointed it toward her. He was convicted of felony criminal threatening and sentenced to three years in prison, the mandatory sentence for that crime. Legislators have fixed that flaw in the law, and others. The changes are contained in Senate Bill 88, which...

For gun rights supporters like Rich Banks of Mountain Top, a new state law to widen the right to use deadly force in self-defense "allows good people to protect themselves." Critics say the expansion of the "Castle Doctrine" was unnecessary, that Pennsylvanians already had the right to protect themselves if their life was in jeopardy and the law could cause more violent confrontations. Last week, Gov. Tom Corbett approved the expansion of the Castle Doctrine, which allows citizens to use deadly force against an attacker at any place where they have a legal right to be. It also limits civil...

North Carolina --(Ammoland.com)- “The idea of a concealed-carry in an Applebee’s bothered people…” - Republican Speaker Thom Tillis, after restaurant carry language was removed from gun legislation which passed. [Analysis] With HB 650 signed by the Governor and scheduled to become law on December 1, congratulations are due to all who responded to GRNC alerts by calling and e-mailing the NC General Assembly. Thanks are also due volunteers of the Legislative Action Team for many hours spent at the legislature, our Director and Co-Director of Communications for dozens of alerts, often sent with little notice, to our Webmaster for alerts...

In 2007, a suburban Houston, Texas, resident named Joe Horn spotted a couple of burglars at his neighbor’s home. He called 911 and asked a dispatcher if he should stop them with his shotgun. The dispatcher told him to sit tight. “Ain’t no property worth shooting somebody over, OK?” the dispatcher said, according to published reports of the 911 call. That wasn’t OK with Horn, who noted that the “laws had been changed” in Texas, and that he had a right to protect himself. “I’m gonna kill ’em,” he told the dispatcher. And he did, with three shotgun blasts to...

In my first state House session, I fought for jobs, education, lower taxes, less spending, public health and safety, and other conservative issues; I also fought for Second Amendment rights for law-abiding citizens and I was a primary sponsor of the main Second Amendment bill. Citizens with conceal carry permits should not be convicted if they place a carry-out order and forget to remove the firearm before picking up the food at a restaurant that serves alcohol. It is illegal for conceal carry permit holders to use drugs or alcohol while carrying. People, in general, should not be allowed to...

Wisconsin --(Ammoland.com)- All but one state has granted some form of concealed carry and a growing number of states have returned to full Constitutional freedom in the right of uninfringed Constitutional Carry. Yet there is another movement sweeping across our land that should also cause great rejoicing. At this time, 38 states have some level of Castle Doctrine self-defense law. While some are more comprehensive than others, all are of significant benefit. Self-Defense From Frivolous Prosecution If you’re not familiar with the Castle Doctrine right of Self-Defense, a very basic description provides immunity from prosecution for an act of self-defense...

Pennsylvania lawyers are mulling over the implications of a bill signed into law by Governor Tom Corbett. The "Castle Doctrine" bill expands a person's right to use deadly force to certain places outside their home, and no longer requires people to retreat as a way to avoid a lethal confrontation. Attorney Fortunato Perri Jr. is satisfied with the change in the law. "I always thought that jurors struggled with the concept that someone has a duty to retreat if possible to do safely," said Perri. "I mean that's an awfully confusing aspect of the previous statute." Perri says the expanded...

Moments ago, in a private ceremony in his office, Governor Tom Corbett signed House Bill 40 into law, significantly expanding the self-defense rights of the law-abiding citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As this column recently reported, despite media characterization of the bill as simply an expansion of ‘Castle Doctrine’, this bill also contains a limited ‘Stand Your Ground’ provision as well as a long anticipated legal presumption of reasonableness in certain cases of self defense. Citizens of Pennsylvania should take the time to thank Governor Corbett for signing this important piece of public safety legislation.

A local lawmaker wants to allow Ohio gun owners to carry guns in colleges, churches, day care centers and government buildings. The bill would also eliminate the requirement for gun owners to carry their permit along with a firearm. This legislation, if passed, would expand on the bill that passed last week allowing guns in bars and restaurants serving alcohol as long as the gun owner isn’t drinking. State Rep. John Adams, R-Sidney, is proposing House Bill 256 for the third time and believes it could pass this session with the House back in Republican control. Previously, the bill never...

A bill expanding gun owners’ rights passed the state Senate Monday, bringing to a close the first, and perhaps final, chapter in a long battle that pitted Second Amendment proponents against gun-control advocates and some law-enforcement officials. HB 40, an expansion of the so-called “Castle Doctrine,” which had already passed the state House, sailed through the Senate with an overwhelming 45-5 majority. The five senators who voted against the bill were all from Philadelphia: They were Larry Farnese, (D-1st), Vincent Hughes, (D-7th), Shirley Kitchen, (D-3rd), Christine Tartaglione, (D-2nd) and LeAnna Washington, (D-4th). Northeast Philly’s Mike Stack and Sen. Anthony Williams...

CONCORD, N.H.—New Hampshire lawmakers are voting this week whether to allow people to use deadly force anyplace they have a right to be.

The North Carolina State House passed HB 650 which amends various firearms laws and includes the Castle Doctrine on the 2nd Reading. There is no report of the actual vote totals yet on the North Carolina General Assembly website or if it was even a roll-call vote. The bill will now go for its 3rd and final Reading before it is sent to the State Senate. Unfortunately, the bill did not pass unscathed. There were three amendments to the bill that were considered and passed before the bill passed its 2nd Reading. Amendment 1 was sponsored by Rep. Mark Hilton...

HARRISBURG — When Florida lawmakers in 2005 made their state one of the first to significantly expand its citizens' self-defense rights, they hoped doing so would deter criminals and ultimately reduce violent crime. What they got instead was two years worth of increasing gun violence. By mid-2007, the incidence of murders, armed robberies and assaults had increased statewide by 42 percent, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement website. While few lawmakers, police or prosecutors argue that the expansion of self-defense rights played a direct role in that increase, those figures have caused some observers to question whether expanding...