Eight overzealous New Hampshire politicians have proposed a gun control law which will be considered in the 2020 legislative session. The six Representatives and two Senators seem to miss the fact that HB1350 is apparently 100% redundant. Federal law already mandates that all firearms dealers provide (or offer) a lock with every single new and used firearm that they sell or transfer. Proposed by nine Democratic Representatives, HB1379 mandates that a background check must be conducted for all commercial firearms sales. As is often the case, conservatives seem happy to let Democrats waste their ammunition, resources, and political capital on redundant and irrelevant bills. An alternative perspective is that the New Hampshire Democrats simply want to pass their own bills to take credit away from the federal government?
House Bill 1350 mandates that:
“No firearm shall be sold or transferred in this state by a licensed firearms dealer or a seller at a gun show unless such firearm includes or is accompanied by an approved firearm safety device”.
According to federal law, this is already a requirement. We reached out to the manager of DW619 Guns & Ammo in Merrimack, and were told that “The federal government requires FFLs to offer a lock for every firearm. For used firearms that no longer have the locks that came in their original box, I am required to offer every customer a lock”. Keith reached under the counter and grabbed a box full of various gun locks. “You want one? Here, take 40! I have tons!” Keith added that the federal government does not offer any compensation to dealers for the locks that they are forced to offer to customers.
While it may seem anecdotal, the members of the Liberty Block team have purchased over 50 new firearms from every major firearms manufacturer and have yet to encounter a single firearm that did not include a lock in the box sold with the new firearm. Independent of the law, firearms companies do care about the safety of their customers. Even if they were as evil and selfish as leftists make them out to be, the CEO’s would likely understand that dead customers do not purchase firearms only customers who use their firearms safely could purchase additional firearms from them. It is in their business interest to ensure that their customers remain as safe as possible.
Democrats also proposed HB1379, which seeks to require all commercial sales of firearms to include background checks.
Every sale or transfer that occurs at a licensed gun dealer in the US is only allowed to proceed once the customer passes a federal NICS background check. This bill is redundant, as well.
The bill does state that “Any individual or person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a class B misdemeanor for a first offense, and a class A misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense.” It is unclear what the federal penalty would be if a dealer violated this law, but a federal firearms felony may carry decades of prison time.
None of this matters to politicians, though, especially the New Hampshire Democrats whose primary focus is virtue signalling to their base. Look out for more anti-gun bills to be introduced by anti-freedom politicians later in the year.
