Bad Changes To New Hampshire Carry License Application Action Needed

New Hampshire Firearms Coalition
New Hampshire Firearms Coalition

Milford, NH –-(Ammoland.com)- As I write this letter, your rights are under direct attack.

Without notice, and without prior solicitation of comments from the public, a bureaucrat in Concord has exceeded his statutory authority, and added new requirements to the New Hampshire pistol/revolver (concealed carry) licensing process.

In the past, we have warned you about legislative proposals that give too much discretionary power to bureaucrats because they are unaccountable to the electorate.  It’s why we’ve fought so hard for things like “shall issue” licensing, and it’s why we ask you to attend committee hearings in Concord, to provide legislators with the perspective of the law-abiding gun owner.

But we live in troubling times, where lawlessness and disregard for established procedures have become the rule. 

You see, cynical politicians – taking their lead from President Obama and the Chicago-style tactics he’s applied in Washington – have decided that “with a phone and a pen”, and without legislative authority, they can instead just make up the rules as they go along.  It disgusts me to report that this brand of lawlessness has now reached all the way to Concord.

Last week, three new questions mysteriously appeared on the NH Pistol & Revolver License application form – two of which are irrelevant to the statute, and invite rogue police chiefs to deny permits for flimsy, insubstantial reasons.

Did the TSA ever mistake you for someone on one of the terrorism watch lists?  Were you ever denied a pistol license in California or New York because the police chief didn’t think you “needed” to carry a gun?  Did you forget to write down the details of a Massachusetts pistol license you had back in the 80s?  If so, with these changes to the application form, a New Hampshire police department could deny your application – even though none of these disqualifies you from receiving a license under the law.

And it gets worse, the previous application contained this on the back:

“Applicants not prohibited under federal or NH law from possession of a firearm shall be deemed suitable persons and the license shall be issued unless the applicant is so prohibited from possessing a firearm. The burden is on the licensing entity to prove by clear and convincing proof that the applicant is so prohibited from possessing a firearm.”

Removing this clear explanation from the form puts the applicant in the dark, and opens the door for rogue anti-gun police chiefs to unfairly deny applications in contravention of the law.

We have to draw a line, and we have to do it now.  The lawlessness must stop.  We have to send a message to the bureaucrats in Concord, that we will not abide this attempt at enacting their own gun control agenda – least of all, without notice, public comment, or statutory authority!

We need you to call the Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Safety, John J. Barthelmes and demand the prior pistol and revolver license application – the one that has helped make New Hampshire one of the safest places in the country and the world – be immediately reinstated.

603-223-3889 or email by clicking here

Also call your Executive Councilor, and express your frustration and dismay that the Commissioner would undertake to make such sweeping changes without advance notice and without first seeking public comment.

Finally, call (603)271-2121 and email Governor Maggie Hassan, the Department of Safety is accountable to the executive branch of state government.  Please be polite and firm but insist that the previous form be reinstated.

In Liberty,
Jonathan R. Evans, Esq.
President – NHFCP.S.

The New Hampshire Firearms Coalition is working tirelessly to keep gun owners like you up-to-date on as many gun issues as possible — please consider contributing to the effort by chipping in $15 or $20.

About New Hampshire Firearms Coalition:
The New Hampshire Firearms Coalition is New Hampshire’s only No Compromise Gun Rights Organization. While many so-called “gun rights groups” work to curry favor with politicians and the media, NHFC is working aggressively to hold politicians accountable and to put a stop to gun control. Visit: www.nhfc-ontarget.org

13 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Carl "Bear" Bussjaeger

Just in case anyone is still following this, I was just called by Gov. Hassan’s office (some ‘crat giving his name as “Ben”). We’re playing phone tag, so I don’t yet know what they have to say, a month later.

Carl "Bear" Bussjaeger

I see folks are still asking for the new and old application versions for comparison. You can find download links for both at:
https://www.bussjaeger.org/index.html#pistol-revolver-license-changes

Joe W. Rush

As Adam has just said, I, too, would like to see a “before-and-after” copy of the application so that I can talk from what I know versus what I hear. Since I already have a “before” copy I will go down to the police station and get an ‘after’ copy for myself. Then I will take whatever action I deem appropriate. Seems like some kind of action is required.

Adam

Does anyone have a copy of the new application vs. the old one to post to show the exact differences? I’d would like to see that. Maybe I’ll try to put that together if no one else does.

Tim

Just sent Mrs. Barlow an email and got an auto response. She will be out of the office for “an undetermined amount of time”. How convenient. I would write or call my Executive Councilor but I could have a more intelligent conversation with a rock than Chris Pappas.

Carl "Bear" Bussjaeger

You can find more detailed discussion (with directly quoted application questions) here
https://www.bussjaeger.org/index.html#pistol-revolver-license-changes

The new application revision is here:
https://www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/nhsp/ssb/permitslicensing/documents/dssp85.pdf

If you need a copy of the previous revision contact me via the email link at my site.

chris

What are the three questions?

And how has any of this provided local popo with the legal authority to deny a license to an otherwise USA/NH qualified applicant?

Scott

I’ll send some emails. But first I need specific information:
What is the text of the new questions?
Could you post images of the old and new application?

Tom

We have to stop running and start gunning.

Carl "Bear" Bussjaeger

“Stroke of the pen, law of the land. Kinda cool.” It was about ten years ago (II think) that the idiot Dems tried changing RSA 159 to allow issuing authorities to “declare” applicants suspected terrorists without any due process, and deny a license. About a thousand people showed up at the State House protesting it, and the bill was ITL’d fast. (And since then, any hearings on victim disarmament bills have almost automatically been scheduled in the main Court chamber just to make room for us.) I’ve linked to this, and suggested to David Codrea that he publicize it as… Read more »

David McConville

Governor Hassan is an Obama henchman.

This is just one more point to prove it.
She has to be removed in the next election,
so that The New Hampshire Advantage can be regained, and New Hampshire traditions can be maintained.

Apparently, Governor Hassan’s only concerns are those of appeasing the DNC so that she can have their backing in her proposed run for the Senate against Senator Ayotte.

The residents of New Hampshire be damned.

Marilyn Jost

Here’s the letter I sent; I went to the police station today to renew my permit, and was horrified and upset to find that the new form looked nauseatingly like the form we used to have fill out in NJ simply to own a firearm! This is NOT OK. Having lived in a state that restricted freedoms, I am concerned when I start to see them eroding before my eyes. I demand that you return the paperwork process back to the level it was 6 years ago. A five minute background check would have shown that I have never had… Read more »

Mike Yakey

Sounds like our Chief Firearms Officers are moving south…