On Wednesday, June 5, I refiled for State Representative for Hillsborough District 1, alongside Jeff Tenczar, Sandy Panek, and introducing my brother Tim Mannion.
I will continue the work in Concord of moving the state towards liberty, preserving the rights of Granite Staters, and keeping New Hampshire the #1 Freest State in the nation.
Within the legal system of the New Hampshire, there is a presumption of innocence, until otherwise proven in a court a law. New Hampshire also enacted civil asset forfeiture reform, so an innocent person does not have to fight the government out of pocket to get back their property which was seized before any conviction was made.
But, we still have another law on the books within the protective order statute that requires a defendant to petition the court, and then prove their innocence to have any firearms and ammunition return to them upon termination of the order. This is backwards from due process.
I filed a bill to invert the responsibility onto the plaintiff, that they must petition the court and argue their case why the defendant shouldn’t be permitted to have their property returned. I also took umbrage with two other sections of the law that allowed police to charge for a “storage fee” and then again be off the hook for damaged property. I was especially surprised hearing one anecdote where the “storage fee” was more than the weapon was worth!
Bill filing begins on September 11, and here is a list of bills I will be submitting this year.
Transparency in Military Recruiting
I will require schools and the DMV to provide casualty and suicide rate statistics of servicemembers, veterans, and civilians caused by US conflicts of the 21st century whenever military recruiters are hosted, anytime the ASVAB is administered, or when driver’s license applications include the Selective Service registration checkbox.
It’s important that young people are given all the information before making life-changing decisions, and military recruiters are not very forthcoming with information that will hurt their quotas. With escalating global tensions, I believe transparency is critically important.
Repeal Select Service Registration Awareness and Compliance Act (RSA 187-A:38-41)
The act prohibits students from enrolling in public colleges if they have not registered for Selective Service (the draft). This is not the responsibility of the state to enforce and I believe it should be repealed.
Selective Service Sanctuary State
I will combine language from Defend the Guard and sanctuary state laws from other states to read that New Hampshire will not provide resources to aid the Federal government in apprehension of draft dodgers, unless Congress formally declares war.
As part of this, I’ll add an option to the Selective Service registration checkbox on license applications to denote conscientious objector status out of the gate.
Campus Due Process
I will submit the FIRE Campus Due Process bill. It provides an accused student with due process (presumption of innocence, access to evidence, right to acquire counsel) in any suspension/expulsion hearing.
Due Process in Temporary Relief Protective Order
It came as a surprise to me to learn that NH has a de facto Red Flag Law within the protective order RSA (173-B:4). There’s pieces of this that require more due process that I am looking to improve.
In addition, the method of returning property to its rightful owner upon expiration of the order involves the accused getting a court order. Instead, the police should have to return the items upon expiration, unless a court order exists to the contrary.
Right to Die
This one is a bit rough, but a pure libertarian stance. You have the right to do with your body and life as you choose, to include ending it. Many folks are suffering with terminal illness with no hope for cures, often in extreme pain, putting their family in emotional and financial strain. I’ll ensure the legislation has enough safeguards in place to prevent abuse, to avoid any situations similar to the anecdotal instances of bad MAID prescriptions occurring by state-run medicine in Canada.
Co-sponsorships and the Future
There are other bills being conceived that I’ve offered to co-sponsor, that I won’t spoil too much on until I’m sure they are being filed. They include topics like augmenting sheriffs to a more constitutional role, transparency from the college system, loosening up car inspections, suppressor legalization, police vehicle visibility, and others.
It’s important to remember the House is basically 50/50 split, so anything too partisan is unlikely to pass. That being said, Overton window shifting is important, and bringing issues to light via legislative testimony can get a foot in the door to expanding liberty in future sessions.
With the tied house, it was difficult to make a lot of progress forward, but we did manage to get several wins under our belts, to include stopping some terrible Democrat gun control bills, a minimum wage bill, and a seatbelt law.
Expedited phase-out of the Interest and Dividends tax, now set to expire by 2025. This tax disproportionately affects the elderly, and its removal makes New Hampshire truly income-tax free.
State of Emergency Reform. This was originally HB127, but was incorporated in the budget after the Senate killed the bill. I was a co-sponsor on HB127, and fought against Senate Finance to ensure the bill’s text would be included in the budget and thus forced the Governor to sign it into law. It is now impossible for the Governor to declare an indefinite State of Emergency, anything beyond 3 months will require the Legislature to convene to extend it.
Northern Border Alliance funding. This money is designed to help train our State Police to cooperate with Federal agencies in securing the northern border for illegal immigration. This is a win for conservatives concerned about immigration.
Federal Checkpoint Alerts. This now requires NH law enforcement to publicly post about Federal checkpoints operating within the state. These have historically caused traffic nightmares for residents and tourists alike, and the Federal Government’s definition of “national border” gives them jurisdiction over almost the entire state. So this provision gives the same courtesy to citizens as we do for DUI checkpoints. This is a win against Federal overreach within the state
HB367 Expands Educational Freedom Account program to include families with combined income of up to 350% of the Federal poverty level. This is a win for education choice.
HB594 Implements universal occupational licensing reciprocity for people looking to work in New Hampshire from neighboring states or new movers joining us. If you have a license from a state that has similar training/requirements to ours, you can just apply to the Office of Professional Licensure with that information and they’ll grant you a New Hampshire license, no additional classes required.
Awaiting Governor’s Signature
HB119 Removes arbitrary annual income cap on uninspected foods for homestead food producers and allows small scale deer farmers to sell on-farm processed meat. This is an expansion of previous Pelham Rep Hershel Nunez’s homesteading food bill from the previous session which raised the income cap! This is a massive win for the farmer’s market!
HB281 Gives greater transparency to electric rate payers as to what percentage of their bill goes towards renewable energy projects. These are green energy subsidies that each of us pay for, and we deserve to know the details. The bill also allows for faster and more efficient site evaluation for new power plants to drive down energy costs. The Democrats kept trying to shove green bills down our throat, and while HB281 does allow for expansion of wind or solar sites, any additional costs rate-payers are subjected to will be transparent. However, speeding along the process for building new energy plants will help with rising costs of power.
Retained In Committee
These bills are held in committee, and can still have meaningful participation from the community to try and pass them.
HB646 Elimination of State inspections for non-commercial vehicles. I am a co-sponsor of this. It is retained by the House Transportation Committee. This issue is frequently complained about, especially by those struggling to make ends meet. Used car markets are also negatively affected by this requirement, as the cost to bring cars up to emissions standards is frequently not worth the purchase of a vehicle. Supply chain shortages also exacerbated this by driving up costs for repairs. Several states do not require inspections, yet the cars are allowed on New Hampshire roads, there’s no reason to continue this, and an inspection sticker is not a year-long shield preventing a car from becoming a hazard, so the fears are unfounded. HB229 Defend the Guard. I am a co-sponsor, and it is retained by the House State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs committee. The bill will prevent the NH National Guard units from being deployed to overseas combat missions until US Congress formally declares war, pursuant to Art I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution. Congress has abandoned its responsibility, handing the reins over to the President, and this has left us vulnerable here at home. This bill will be receiving another public hearing in September that any person can come and testify, but the date is still in flux. Information will be published by on this site as it approaches. Veterans, or their families, would be great to provide testimony on this. HB512 Exempting Firearms Manufactured in NH from federal firearm laws. This bill is retained by Jeff Tenczar’s committee House Criminal Justice and Public Safety. This bill would allow manufacturers to stamp firearms and accessories with “Made in New Hampshire” markings, and permit sale/transfer within the state without ATF tax stamps. This challenges interpretations of the Interstate Commerce Clause, and with the current makeup of the Supreme Court, is a good challenge that should be raised. HB587 This bill allows organ donors to specify they wish their organs to be donated to New Hampshire residents first, before adding them to the regional organ donor availability list. A change in Federal law when Biden took office expanded the radius for regional organ donations, and if you are listed as a donor, your organs will likely be sent to New York City instead of to another Granite Stater. This bill would allow donors to specify they wish to reverse this. The bill is currently retained by House Health and Human Services.
Killed Democrat Bills
HB32 Gun-Free School Zones HB59 Expanded background checks HB76 Mandatory Firearm Purchase Waiting Periods HB78 Repeal of 2nd Amendment Sanctuary State law (Senator Daryl Abbas’s bill from last term) HB106 Red Flag Laws HB351 Mandatory Locking Mechanisms HB444 Firearm prohibition at polling locations HB57 Minimum Wage HB222 Seatbelt Law CACR4 Legislative Pay Increase
I testified against all of these, spending all day before Jeff Tenczar’s Criminal Justice committee to protect your 2nd Amendment rights. Clips and text of the testimony is available here.
Here are links to my floors speeches and parliamentary inquiries on the House YouTube channel, as well as the text of my floor speeches. HR9 ended up not having floor debate, but I had a prepared speech just in case.
The HR9 PI once again had me going viral in the liberty Twitter world, with my thanks to AFP’s Chris Maidment!
HR8 was the first bill I argued on the house floor since becoming a New Hampshire State Rep, and it was entirely within my wheelhouse. It was to request the Federal government to enact an “assault weapons” ban.
Thank you Mr. Speaker.
I rise to speak in support of the committee report of ITL on HR8
The 20th Century was filled with millions of reasons to never permit a government to restrict your natural right of self defense.
Pol Pot – 2 Million
Adolf Hitler – 13 million
Joseph Stalin – 20 Million
Mao Zedong – 45 Million.
These are the lowball estimates of civilians massacred after private firearm ownership was banned by those leaders.
Contrary to what Biden may repeat in front of the cameras, our natural right to keep and bear arms is not so we can go deer hunting, or sport shooting. It is to prevent the horrors that have played out by fascist governments.
Supporters of a Federal Assault Weapon’s ban will echo the refrain that the founders could not have imagined modern firearms. But cannons existed, privateers owned battleship equivalents of the day. The founders were fully aware of the evolution of arms, and this is evident by the use of that specific word – “arms” in the 2nd Amendment. Not just muskets, not just swords, not just pistols, no such limitation is defined.
In Congress last session, HR1808 was the proposed Assault Weapons Ban of 2022. The bill swept so broadly it would make millions of owned firearms illegal overnight, also including several hunting rifle and shotgun models. During the hearing Congressman Dan Bishop asked: “Would anyone on the other side dispute that this bil would ban weapons that are in common use in the US Today?” Chairman Jerry Nadler replied “That’s the point of the bill.” This flies directly in the face of DC v. Heller, where the supreme court held that arms in common use were protected under the 2nd Amendment. This alone makes any bans unconstitutional based on precedent.
HR1808 also exempted all departments of the Federal Government from the ban. All departments. Congressman Thomas Massie attempted to amend the bill, clarifying that of course this wouldn’t include the Departments of Education or Agriculture. Since the bill supporters keep referring to AR15s as “weapons of war” and “only useful for mass murder.” Why would a department of teachers or farmers need this? When answering this very question, the bill supporters said “Because they may need to defend themselves.”
Okay… so they aren’t only useful for mass murder or just for war? And apparently the rest of our lives aren’t important enough to let us defend ourselves in the same manner. This type of monopoly of force is precisely the outcome the founders wanted to prevent by including the second amendment.
Which, I will add, doesn’t grant us any right. We are born with the natural right to self defense, to protect ourselves, our families, and our property. The 2nd amendment, along with the entire bill of rights, is a list of restrictions on the Federal government to protect our natural rights and liberty.
Support liberty against tyranny, vote ITL on House Resolution 8.
Parliamentary Inquiry
Thank you, Mr. speaker.
Mr speaker, if I know that the CDC reported a renewed assault weapons ban would have no measurable difference on gun violence.
And if I know that any bill banning firearms in common usage violates the Heller v. DC ruling,
And if I know that Columbine occurred during the last Federal assault weapons ban,
And if I further know we have to only look to the last century to see the disastrous outcome of governments having monopoly ownership over firearms,
And, Mr Speaker, if I know the definition of “shall not be infringed” I would press the green button and ITL HR8.
HR9 – Federal American Marshall Plan Resolution
Thank you Mr. Speaker.
I am here to support the committee report of ITL on HR9.
$31.5T. That’s the current US debt. That is about $250k per taxpayer. That is a debt to GDP ratio of 120%.
In 2020, the US government injected (printed) approximately $4T dollars in the name of COVID relief. In 2022, another $4T was printed under the ironic name “Inflation Reduction Act.” Coupled with the latter was a provision to hire 87,000 IRS agents. You don’t hire that many agents to just go after a handful of billionaires to make them pay “their fair share.” These agents would go after your tips, and your $600 Venmos.
Both of these trillions of dollars spending sprees have caused record inflation, and global hesitancy with respect to the dollar. The Saudi’s are shopping around for alternate currencies to trade for their oil, which likely means they’ll be getting a healthy dose of regime change and a hefty plate of freedom soon.
The effects this mass creation of money had on prices is still rippling through the market today, so much so the current administration circled their media empire to try and gaslighting us into thinking inflation is a good thing because it means wages might go up. Might. Meanwhile your savings are depreciating.
A one-for-one America-centric Marshall Plan would, in today’s dollars, cost at least $173 billion. And with the mismanagement and earmarking of the previous $8T, there’s no way the price tag wouldn’t be identical in scale. And it’d almost certainly contribute half its cost to be lit on fire in Ukraine. Well, not literally, because burning the dollars would at least remove them from circulation and help us in some way.
During testimony it was also made adamantly clear that any projects divvied out under this plan would have prioritized, if not grant exclusively, contracts to union workshops, discriminating against the massive amount of independent workers in the country. This type of cash-dump would also feed up through union dues and be paid directly into ActBlue accounts to fund the next generation of lawmakers to craft union-preferential labor bills and so on and so on. But I digress.
We cannot afford a project of this scale. Not only that, but we cannot trust the Federal government to helm such an endeavor. They have proven to be reckless with the checkbook. Until a Convention of States ratifies a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution, every effort should be made to dissuade further big project spending from the Federal government.
And with that I ask you to vote yes on the ITL motion on HR9.
Parliamentary Inquiry
Mr speaker, if I know the Federal government has spent more money in the last 3 years than ever before, with large portions of that money being misappropriated or going unaccounted for,
And if I know that a project of this size would undoubtedly inject trillions more into the $32.5T national debt, a debt to GDP ratio of 120 percent,
And if I know the inflation reduction act added positions for 87000 IRS agents to squeeze taxes from us to compensate unstoppable Federal spending,
And if I further know that we are still experiencing rapid inflation due to these federal spending sprees, and that inflation is one of the most insidious taxes,
And, finally Mr. Speaker, if I know that Taxation is Theft, then I would press the green button to ITL HR9.
February 8th was a long, packed day of gun bills. I testified or registered my opposition against all the bills that would infringe on our natural right to keep and bear arms, and spoke in support of the two (including my own bill) that would further protect your rights in the afternoon.
A Twitter meme was created highlighting a part of my testimony against HB78, that went viral in the liberty community. Thank you to LPNH!
There’s a common expression I use frequently when discussing why I carry: When seconds count, the police are only minutes away. This bill prohibits this type of personal rapid response in a crisis situation anywhere near a school. It creates a publicly-advertised soft target. In other states with similar provisions, this is the exact type of area where mass shooting events occur – places where there will be the least amount of resistance from law-abiding citizens that obey these ordinances.
The bill shifts the responsibility of defense of life entirely onto law enforcement. And while it’s more comfortable to think Uvalde police department is the only department that would wait outside the school for hours, and tase you if you try to enter to do their job for them, I’m not confident that would be the case. You see, courts at all levels have repeatedly affirmed that law enforcement are under no obligation to risk their lives to save yours or the lives of your loved ones.
I know the reaction to mass shooting events is to do SOMETHING. And I agree, but this is NOT the right “something” to do. The solution to this problem is not to prevent teachers, janitors, counselors, or parents on site from being first to respond to a crisis situation. Frankly, I’m of the opinion that more teachers should take firearm training and carry. To me, it is akin to any other emergency situation – learning the Heimlich maneuver, CPR, automatic defibrillator usage, what to do in case of fire, etc. I don’t believe in mandating carry, but administrations being more encouraging for it, and including training courses for those that are interested would be nothing but beneficial.
HB 59 – Expanded Background Checks (Opposed)
To start, this bill opens with the definition of “Commercial sale” as including gifts. So, let me run a hypothetical. A father is raising his son up way up in Coos county, they go hunting and target shooting on weekends. The son is raised in a gun-friendly environment, is very well trained and capable thanks to the great mentorship of his father. When the father deems his son to be mature enough, the father gifts his son the rifle they’ve been using for years as a birthday gift, same as his father did before him. It is now the son’s to own. His eyes light up with wonder, a smile spreads across his face, and Dad is now guilty of a class B misdemeanor thanks to HB59. Tough break, pops.
Since FFL firearm purchases are already subject to background checks, I want to highlight what I believe is unconstitutional in the ATF Form 4473. If we are going to be lapdogs to arbitrary federal rules, I think I should elaborate exactly what that entails and how it is a violation of granite staters’ rights.
I want to credit LibertyBloc for bringing this to my attention. In all the times I completed this form, the specific legal language the ATF uses never popped out at me.
Question 11b states: “Are you under indictment or information in any court for a felony, or any other crime which a judge could imprison you for more than one year?”
“Indictment.” Not guilty of. So no trial, no jury, no conviction, no sentence, yet answering “yes” would prohibit purchase of a firearm. So you are being denied liberty without due process of law, and being forced to bear witness against yourself. This violates the Fifth Amendment.
Question 11c covers conviction, so 11b sticks out as unnecessary and unconstitutional. And the subject of felony conviction and firearm ownership is another bill this committee has heard and I submitted testimony for.
Question 11e states:
“Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance? (in bold) WARNING: The use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.”
This question is dubiously worded – as it says “unlawful user,” and immediately reminds you that any use of marijuana is unlawful. This question, as with all of these, violates the fifth amendment protection against bearing witness against oneself, as well as the 10th Amendment, which gives all authority not explicitly outlined in the US Constitution to the states, which includes drugs.
This goes on, and I would argue that we shouldn’t be completing these forms in the first place, let alone making a dad run one for gifting his son a rifle. Criminals do not acquire firearms through these means, they steal them, or the federal agencies (like during the Obama administration) ferry them to Mexico and they come back into circulation that way. It also won’t be too long before all the newly-Taliban-owned arms make their way around the planet. I’m certain the DoD didn’t run a background check on those guys before leaving them guns.
HB 76 – Mandatory Firearm Purchase Waiting Period (Opposed)
During the summer of 2020, I watched live streams of fiery, but mostly peaceful protests across the country. The citizens were angry, and I agreed with their anger, but not the methodology. Private businesses, even those with black owners, were torched. In some of the larger cities with more violent protests, terrified business owners were told by 911 dispatchers – the police were unavailable to help and that they were on their own.
Hearing this, I was thankful we live in a country where we can arm ourselves against such violence. But in states with firearm waiting periods like California, you cannot just go get a firearm to protect your business, your family, your property. These people learned the hard way, that their feel-good “sensible gun control” measures would have costly consequences. A cop acting criminally half a country away would result in near-overnight reaction from an rightfully angry community, but would end up destroying the livelihood or homes of people wholly uninvolved. And they were told by both the police and gun store owners: you’re going to have to wait.
It’s easy to be a Monday-morning quarterback, and say they should’ve already had the gun, but the same people pushing for waiting periods don’t actually believe this, either. They’d rather you be disarmed and hope the waiting period is enough of a deterrent to keep you from bothering at all. They believe a waiting period would stop some heat-of-the-moment gun purchase for a vigilante looking for vengeance, or whatever thriller movie scenario they have cooked up. That same person will just get it illegally should a waiting period be introduced. The only people being affected by this are those that wish to remain within the law, and will ultimately be harmed by it.
If another country-wide protest is on the horizon, and your state has a mandatory waiting period, you may as well pack your things and leave town. Just don’t expect your home to be there when you get back.
HB 78 – Repeal Gun Sanctuary Law (Opposed)
The federal government creates so many rules and laws that even their bloated agencies are incapable of enforcing them all. As such, they rely on our law enforcement to waste time and resources aiding in any number of potentially unconstitutional acts. They reward such obedience with things like bearcats, that those police and then use to smash in the front of a private residence just because they can.
Our law enforcement should be focused on the laws of New Hampshire. We are not obligated to assist the feds with whatever new rules they create, especially as it pertains to firearms. The ATF’s own rules are extremely fluid in nature as they don’t wait for a law to come from Congress to just decide to ban new things. The latest are pistol braces, but before that, an Executive Order from President Trump banned bump stocks, only to be overturned by the courts. So, in the interim, while these unconstitutional rules and EOs come into existence with no oversight, any one of us could become a felon in our sleep.
Last year’s House Bill 1178 put an end to wasting our law enforcement’s time with these wild swings in policy from DC. If the feds want to enforce these laws, there’s sadly not much we can do (yet?), but they are going to have a much harder time going it alone. Despite what the ATF and others believe, we have a natural right to self defense, and we respect that in New Hampshire. I personally believe the ATF is an illegal organization, responsible for many deaths caused by their actions over the decades. I do not want our state law enforcement agencies cooperating with them, and ideally we’ll create an alert system, warning communities they are in danger whenever they are on the move, akin to midwestern tornado sirens.
HB 106 – Red Flag Laws (Opposed)
This bill creates what is commonly referred to as a “Red Flag Law,” or as I refer to it – second and fifth amendment violations. Without a conviction, without a jury trial, a jilted ex can have your firearms seized by the state, for up to a year, after which time you have to plead with the court, on your own dime, to have your property returned to you. And if that angry ex continues to “fear for their life,” you’re never getting them back. If, by some miracle, they move on and forget to continuously file, you can then, again, on your own dime, plead to the courts to have your property returned to you. Oh, after paying their storage fees. This type of system reminds me a lot of crooked tow company rackets.
Now, for something darker. As an Iraq war veteran, I fortunately emerged mentally sound from my time over there. Not all of us did. While the VA offers free mental health care, there is a fear amongst Veterans that if they seek help, their guns will be taken away. And, while largely unfounded, the mere existence of Red Flag Laws, with language about “potential harm to themselves”, it’s understandable why the vets feel the way they do. So, instead of getting the help many of them need, they’d rather tough it out. They’d rather grapple with their demons alone than have their firearms confiscated, and I completely understand. However, the deadly scenario the Red Flag Law is attempting to prevent, can become the reality instead.
HB 351 – Mandatory Locking Mechanisms (Opposed)
I was not able to testify against this, but registered my opposition with the committee.
HB 444 – Firearms Prohibited at Polling Places (Opposed)
I was not able to testify against this, but registered my opposition with the committee.
HB 474 – Establishing Penalties for Violation of Right to Keep and Bear Arms (Supported – Prime Sponsor)
Last year we had a fantastic bill, HB1178 come through this committee and ultimately be signed into law. It is commonly referred to as the gun sanctuary bill, as its language is modeled after immigration sanctuary provisions in various states and cities across the US. The difference being, this one solidified New Hampshire’s dedication to protect its citizens rights against federal overreach. This law was already covered in the hearing of HB78, so I’ll focus on HB474.
During the testimony for our sanctuary bill, one of the chief complaints from our citizens about it was the lack of penalties or “teeth” to any law enforcement that decided to ignore NH law, and aid the feds in trampling our natural right to keep and bear arms. This bill corrects for that. I consider it a government accountability bill. It waives Qualified Immunity, and permits a wronged individual to have their day in court.
Furthermore, I do not believe our state could benefit from employing federal agents that have disregarded our natural rights, and bars them from employment if they have a history of doing so. This type of insidious perversion-from-within would ultimately diminish the quality of law enforcement in the state, dragging them down to the levels of rights-trampling federal agents. We should be ostracizing individuals with this mindset, not allowing them to train alongside or manage police departments with granite staters that respect the rights of our citizens.
The militarization of police, which is causing disharmony and strife in our communities traces back to federal programs, doctrines, and enforcement of their laws. If we hope to mend the distrust of law enforcement, bills like HB474 are a path towards it. We should not be employing individuals that consider our rights an obstacle for them to overcome, and create arbitrary rules on the fly with no Congressional feedback, only to be eventually struck down by the courts after the harm has already been done.
HB512 – Exempting Firearms and Accessories Manufactured in New Hampshire from Federal Regulation (Supported)
For too long we’ve accepted that if a product is manufactured inside of the US, regardless of whether it left the state it was made in, that the Federal Government must have a say in the process. In 1942, Wickard v. Filburn was the case that is the justification for the explosive, monstrous growth we’ve seen in the federal government. In this case, Filburn grew wheat to feed his livestock, but the US had imposed limitations on what farmers could produce. Since he could have maybe sold his wheat across state lines, the federal government used that as justification to impose regulations. And the Supreme Court, being very open to expanding federal power and with extremely loose interpretation of the Constitution, sided with the feds.
Fast-forward to 2023, I legally cannot manufacture a suppressor, or buy one from a New Hampshire manufacturer without ATF permission, just to protect my hearing, as a consequence of that interpretation. The ATF is more than happy to use the Wickard v. Filburn decision, since anything I make for myself, could potentially have been sold across state lines, and that then gives them jurisdiction over it. I believe now is the time to push back against the federal overreach we’ve grown too accustomed to. The founders would be sick to see how the states have bowed down to consolidated power in DC. The current SCOTUS makeup appears amenable to correcting past mistakes, and we should join Texas and many other states that are challenging commerce clause interpretations, especially as pertains to firearm manufacturing.
I am the prime sponsor of House Bill 474, and will be introducing it to the Criminal Justice committee February 8th. This will be a public hearing, and I encourage you to come out in support, or to file a testimony online.
WHAT
HB474 Hearing
WHEN
Wednesday, February 8, 3:15PM
WHERE
State House Concord, NH Reps Hall
COMMITTEE
Criminal Justice
This bill gives teeth to the gun sanctuary bill signed into law by the governor last year. It specifically allows individuals to sue police that violated their natural right to bear arms. Additionally it prevents federal agents from being employed by the state as law enforcement, if they previously have violated those same rights.
February 8th is a big day for several pro- and anti-gun bills. Please come or submit testimony online.
If you, or anyone you know, wishes to testify on behalf of this bill, please come out to the hearing, it is open to the public. Online testimony can also be submitted here, using the table above to populate the form. If you need help, reach out to me: tom@mannion4nh.com
I promise to maintain Constitutional carry within New Hampshire, and will work to keep Federal mandates/regulations at bay to protect granite staters’ rights from infringement by any government body.
Thank you for the grade, and I promise my legislative service will follow suit!
NRA-PVF has posted their grading for New Hampshire candidates, and I’m excited to announce I received an AQ rating based on survey questions. The “Q” is attached to signify that I don’t have a voting record (yet), and their grade is based on my questionnaire responses.
My primary slate mates, Sandy Panek and Jeff Tenczar also received AQ ratings!
I am a strong supporter of your right to keep, bear, and print arms. My voting record will reflect that in Concord, upgrading the AQ to an undeniable A.
Governor Sununu signed HB1178 into law Friday, making New Hampshire a “gun sanctuary” state. This was one of the high profile bills I was watching like a hawk and am excited to see signed.
Any Federal laws/regulations that differ from those in NH RSA cannot be enforced by local/state law enforcement, and support cannot be provided for Federal agencies enforcing them.
This comes a week too late for a Salem, NH man that was arrested for “possession of a machine gun.” Barring any future details that may arise, it appears to me that this man was arrested while minding his own business. If he intended to use them for a mass shooting, or was selling them across state lines, or had discharged them recklessly within a dense area of the city, the headline and charges would certainly have included this information. So it reads to me that this man did nothing actually wrong, and there are no victims to this alleged “crime.”
Furthermore, the final line of that article lists NHSP and Salem police as aiding in the investigation alongside Federal agencies. This type of cooperation is disallowed by HB1178, leaving the infringement of rights entirely in the hands and on the dime of the Federal government so our State tax dollars can be spent on actual crimes instead.
State Representative – Hillsborough County District 01 (Pelham)
Tom Mannion for New Hampshire 