New Hampshire Lawmaker, Seeks Gun Ban In Public Buildings

[SecularMotion]

A newly elected New Hampshire state legislator has proposed legislation to ban openly carrying guns in public buildings.

State Rep.-elect Delmar Burridge (D-Keene) said he wants to stop the practice of carrying guns into public buildings, including schools, libraries and the Statehouse, as a way to make the state safer.

"It's outrageous," Burridge told HuffPost. "I don't think public employees, people who go to college should be subjected to this."

The legislation, which is gathering opposition from the state chapter of the National Rifle Association, would allow those with conceal carry permits to continue bringing guns into public buildings. Certified peace officers also still would be able to carry guns openly in public buildings under the legislation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/04/new-hampshire-gun-ban-delmar-burridge_n_2237278.html

[rrneck]

1. Classist bullshit. What an asshole. nt

[gejohnston]

2. in the 230 years it has been legal

how many deaths resulted from this practice?

[Warren Stupidity]

12. In my state it was illegal to carry in public buildings until the teabagnuts took

over the loonislature and made it legal two years ago.

[Trunk Monkey]

13. How many folks have died as a result? NT

[Warren Stupidity]

14. The idiocy of our legislators stomping around armed and dangerous was

Damaging to the sanity of this state. It was all part of the package of right wing authoritarianism that swept into power in 2010. Thankfully those assholes get swept out of power, and we will be undoing the crap they did.

Nobody got shot in the previous 230 years or so either.

One idiot did manage to drop his loaded gun on the floor of the general court.

[Glaug-Eldare]

15. Damaging to the sanity of the state?

Do you mean that the incidence or severity of mental illness has increased, or are you comparing the "harm" of being exposed to non-violent people who live differently than you to real harm?

[friendly_iconoclast]

16. Sounds like a bad case of "moral harm" to me...

Robert Bork tried out that argument in 1971, in defense of prosecuting such victimless crimes as drug abuse, writing in the Indiana Law Journal that “knowledge that an activity is taking place is a harm to those who find it profoundly immoral.”

[Warren Stupidity]

18. NH has one of, if not the lowest violent crime rates in the country.

What our loonislature did was a prime example of gun culture gone wild. Just because you have the right to carry a gun does not mean you should carry a gun. Carrying a weapon in public is in and of itself a threatening act that puts everyone else around you on guard. One should be armed because there is a reasonable threat justifying being armed. A culture that perceives all of public space as being so threatening that going about openly armed is reasonable is a culture that will not survive

Yes, what our loonislature did damaged our New England culture of gentility and respect. Thankfully the damage was short lived and will be undone.

[Glaug-Eldare]

19. Do NHers no longer respect each other?

I can understand where you're coming from, but perceived harm to "New England culture" is a weak basis for any statute. There are good reasons to control who's armed in a state building, but that isn't one of them.

[PavePusher]

20. Your concern is duly noted.

Did you realise that you sound exactly like a DOMA fan? Interesting, but it indicates that you may want to re-examine your assumptions. Good luck with that.

[Trunk Monkey]

22. Carrying a weapon (openly I might add) in public is something I do daily

Carrying a weapon in public is in and of itself a threatening act that puts everyone else around you on guard.

I don't notice the people around me going on guard although I do get the occasional what kind of gun is that

[GreenStormCloud]

17. And what happened then? Nothing.

Guns of modern design are drop safe. "Modern design" goes back almost 100 years.

[Trunk Monkey]

21. I asked a very specific question

How many people died as a result of that law being passed?

[Eleanors38]

3. As long as concealed-carry is allowed, the state has power

to regulate the method of carry, IMO. They must protect the right to carry, one way or the other (or both).

[ileus]

4. It's a shame people don't trust one another.

Public buildings should equal public access even when OCin.

[PavePusher]

5. An elected offical needs a Whambulance.

What a fucking surprise.

[Eleanors38]

8. He doesn't seem to know his state's history, or cares not a wit about it.

[Berserker]

6. AWWWWW

That's so cute are they the elite of our society?
"I don't think public employees, people who go to college should be subjected to this."

[trouble.smith]

7. there a lot of murders in NH public buildings are there?

[Eleanors38]

9. I heard it's like Damascus!

[Glaug-Eldare]

10. Mmmmmeh.

Not a huge deal..I'd say it fits into TPM, but I'd also say it's a solution looking for a problem. I've never carried, so I can't really judge the inconvenience of it all, but I don't see the horror in not being able to carry in state buildings, as long as they provide for my protection and accept liability. I suppose the harm Burridge is perceiving comes from having to cope with the reality of living around and among people he doesn't agree with.

[PavePusher]

11. "...as long as they provide for my protection and accept liability."

And there's the sticking point. 'Cause they don't.