By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD — The House once again beat back any attempt to add stipulations to gun purchases that bill supporters said would reduce both homicides and suicides.
Also, the House refused to ban firearms from polling locations, voted to instigate litigation over the Constitution’s commerce clause concerning firearms manufacturers, and repealed a prohibition on brass knuckles, blackjacks and sling shots all in largely party line votes.
The House also decided to institute criminal and civil penalties for false and malicious child abuse claims, legalize cannabis sales for recreational use, changed who can file a right-to-know request, and voted down attempts to put more business tax money in the Education Trust Fund.
Guns
House Bill 56 would require a background check for firearm sales outside of a federally licensed firearms dealer and would require a 72-hour waiting period before the ownership transfer could be made.
Rep. David Meuse, D-Portsmouth, called the bill a common sense public safety bill that could save some lives.
He said the bill is intended to help gun violence and suicide victims in the state.
Under the bill a private sale of a firearm would have to be facilitated by a licensed dealer, who is able to access the federal database of prohibited gun owners, and once the background check clears, there would be a 72-hour waiting period for the transfer.
Meuse said a Hooksett mother spoke to the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee about her son who committed suicide with a firearm he just purchased. She told the committee her son probably would be alive today had there been a 72-hour waiting period.
He said the waiting period is a cooling off period for someone who might harm themselves or others.
Meuse also said the background check would ensure that a convicted felon or a domestic abuser or someone else who is prohibited from owning a firearm does not fall through the cracks.
But Rep. Jennifer Rhodes, R-Winchester, said the bill contains none of the exemptions that should be there such as for hunters or target shooters.
“I’m not sure what the reason is for the waiting period,” she said. “This is about control.”
The bill was killed on a 216-154 vote.
The House refused to limit guns at polling places although supporters noted firearms have been used in the past to intimidate black people from voting and recently used to intimidate people dropping off ballots at drop boxes.
Supporters said 22 states have firearm bans at polling places to protect both voters and poll workers.
But opponents said the state constitution encourages people to arm themselves and to protect themselves and they should be able to do that at polling places.
House Bill 352 was killed on a 211-161 vote.
The House set up the state to challenge a 1940s US Supreme Court ruling expanding government authority through the constitution’s commerce clause.
House Bill 381would exempt firearms and firearm accessories manufactured for in-state use only from the National Firearm Act.
Rep. Buzz Scherr, D-Portsmouth, said the sole purpose of this bill is to set up a constitutional challenge to the application of the federal commerce clause.
“The general court’s power to legislate should not be used to create litigation obligations for the state Attorney General’s office when other means are available for individuals to engage in litigation without cost to the state,” he said.
But Rep. Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, said the ruling expanded government authority to regulate almost everything and it is time to see if a new decision would change that.
The bill passed on a 205-168.
The House did approve House Bill 207 which repeals the prohibition against the sale or possession of blackjacks, sling shots and metallic or brass knuckles on a 207-162 vote.
Cannabis
The House voted down the criminal justice committee’s recommendation to kill House Bill 75 which would legalize cannabis for anyone over 21 years old and passed the bill on a 190-167 vote.
The House has passed a number of bills over the years legalizing the recreational use of cannabis only to be killed by the Senate and the veto threat of former Gov. Chris Sununu, who changed his position two years ago and a bill was approved by both the House and Senate last year.
However, the House did not like the compromise reached at the end of the session and killed the bill.
New Gov. Kelly Ayotte has said she opposes legalizing cannabis so little attention was paid to HB 75, which now goes to the Senate.
The House also approved House Bill 53, which permits qualifying patients and designated caregivers to cultivate cannabis for therapeutic use under the state’s medical marijuana program.
The vote was 328-42.
Child Abuse
The House set the state on a path to make false and malicious claims of child abuse subject to criminal or civil penalties.
The House passed House Bill 243 on a 205-165 vote after voting down the House Children and Family Law Committee’s recommendation to kill the bill.
Rep. Jodi Nelson, R-Derry, said false reporting destroys lives, wastes resources that could be used for real cases, and creates panic and confusion by people seeking to “weaponize the system.”
She noted a majority of states have penalties for false reporting of child abuse.
But Rep. Peter Petrigno, D-Milford, said the committee was concerned that instituting a penalty could make someone hesitant to file a report when they suspect abuse may be happening.
“That may put kids at risk,” he said. “I urge you to put the safety and welfare of children above all else.”
The House voted 213-156 to kill House Bill 368, which would have prevented smoking or vaping in an automobile with someone younger than 16 years old.
Rep. Ted Gorski, R-Bedford, claimed the bill would “infringe on the civil liberties of smokers and drivers,” while Rep. George Sykes, D-Lebanon, said “every child deserves a right to a safe and healthy environment.”
Right-to-Know
The House initially approved House Bill 66 which would expand who could make a right-to-know request to anyone including someone who lives out of state by changing “citizen” to “person.”
If the request comes from someone without some affiliation to New Hampshire, such as being a New Hampshire taxpayer or owns property or does business in the state, then the person has to make the request in person and pick up the material in person.
New Hampshire connected individuals and the media may make right-to-know requests remotely and the material would be delivered electronically if they are in that format.
The bill also allows available records to include preliminary drafts of reports and other documents that are circulated to a quorum of the body.
Concerns were expressed that some local offices could be overwhelmed with the expansion to those outside the state.
The bill passed on a 321-48 vote and was referred to the House Finance Committee.
The House also gave initial approval to House Bill 111, which would extend the right-to-know ombudsman position for two years.
The bill was referred to House Finance.
Taxes
The House killed three bills dealing with business taxes.
Two bills, House Bill 255 and House Bill 318 would have increased the percentage of the business profits tax and the business enterprise tax that go into the Education Trust Fund from 41 to 59 percent.
Currently the breakdown is 41 percent of the business tax revenue goes into the Education Trust Fund and 59 percent into the state’s General Fund.
The prime sponsor of both bills, Rep. Thomas Schamberg, D-Wilmot, said the change would add more than $200 million annually into the Education Trust Fund to help lower local property taxes.
The bills were killed by lopsided votes, as was House Bill 502, which would have abandoned the state’s current “water’s edge” method of determining the business tax liability for foreign multinational corporations.
The system allows foreign corporations to move profits offshore to reduce their liability, supporters said, and instead the state should use the unitary system which would determine profits and activities around the world and then what percentage of that business is done in New Hampshire.
The state, along with many others used the unitary system until the mid 1990s when the water’s edge system was adopted under an agreement between British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and US President Ronald Reagan.
Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.