Senate rejects state gun-free school zone bill
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Apr. 11—CONCORD — New Hampshire will remain without a gun-free school zone law after the state Senate rejected it along party lines Thursday.
State Sen. Daryl Abbas, R-Salem, said the Class A misdemeanor for carrying a gun inside a gun-free school zone will not stop someone bent on carrying out a violent act.
"Seeing a sign that says gun-free zone is not going to deter someone at all," Abbas said.
State law already allows prosecutors to charge someone for possession of a gun for the express purpose of carrying out a violent act with it, Abbas said.
Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, said the growing number of school shootings across the country — and school lockdowns in New Hampshire recently — have students and their parents on edge.
"How many kids have to be slaughtered before we take some action on gun violence protection?" Altschiller said.
The bill (SB 593), killed by a 14-9 vote, was the sixth gun-control measure rejected this session by the House of Representatives or Senate.
All Senate Republicans voted against the bill, while all Senate Democrats present supported it.
Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester, was absent.
Other bills that failed would have required criminal background checks for all handgun sales (SB 571), instituted a three-day waiting period before buying a handgun (SB 577) and created a "red flag" law (SB 360) to allow a judge to order someone to surrender their guns because the person poses a danger to himself or others.
The gun-free zone bill would have required that guns in cars and trucks on school property be locked up and unloaded.
Exceptions under bill
Law enforcement, the military and authorized school resource officers would have been exempt from the ban, along with anyone given permission by the local school board to have a specific weapon while on the property.
Violators would face a Class A misdemeanor charge that could carry up to a year in county jail.
New Hampshire, Hawaii and Wyoming are the only states in the nation that let anyone except students have a gun on school property despite the federal Gun-Free School Zone Law passed by Congress in 1990.
The National Conference of State Legislatures reported many states in recent years have taken a variety of actions regarding guns and school security in the wake of increased shooting incidents.
Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut are among 20 states where adults can have guns if the local school authority gives them permission. Another three states permit anyone with a concealed-carry permit to carry a gun on school property.
Opponents of the bill argued public school properties in recent years have become more secure.
Altschiller said there's no reason New Hampshire should not give the same protection to students and teachers as court officials have under a separate state law that bans the possession of weapons inside courthouses.
A seventh, more incremental bill (HB 1711) stands a very good chance of becoming law this year.
That bill would close a loophole discovered following the fatal shooting of New Hampshire Hospital security officer Bradley Haas.
The state currently does not automatically turn over to the federal criminal background checks system those individuals who have their guns taken away from them after being involuntarily committed to a mental institution.
John Madore, the man who fatally shot Haas, had his guns taken from him after an arrest in Strafford County and was a former patient at New Hampshire Hospital.
It's still not publicly known how Madore obtained the guns and ammunition he used to kill Haas last November.
A short time after Haas was shot, a state trooper fatally shot Madore.
Late last month the House passed HB 1711, 204-149. It is pending before the Senate.
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, an advocacy group supporting gun-control measures, held a news conference earlier Thursday thanking those who backed all the bills.
Democratic candidates for governor Joyce Craig of Manchester and Cinde Warmington of Concord spoke at the event.
