In February, Tamerlan Tsarnev purchased fireworks in Seabrook, New Hampshire that may have been used in the Boston Marathon bombs.
The reloadable mortar kits he bought cannot be legally sold in Massachusetts. They could not be legally sold in New Hampshire until June, 2011. That’s when a bill lifting the restriction became law. Elections have consequences.
A short excerpt from Dean Barker’s look at the law and the consequences:
The bill to make reloadable mortars legal in New Hampshire was born from the 2011-2012 Republican supermajority legislature. It became law without the signature of the Governor. The sponsors were Reps. Christiansen, Coffey, and Hopper.
Rep. Christiansen gained notoriety last biennium for wanting to use the legislature to assist a convicted child rapist.
Rep. Coffey, a Free Stater, led efforts on a bill to put warning signs between the New Hampshire-Massachusetts border.
We are disheartened with the efforts of the New Hampshire house to give more rights to criminals than to law-abiding citizens. No citizen should have to prove in a court of law that they could not run from a rapist or a robber, this effort by the New Hampshire house sets women’s rights back centuries…
— Former state Rep. Jenn Coffey (R-Andover), on the New Hampshire House vote to repeal the state’s “stand your ground” law.
Activists who oppose repeal of New Hampshire’s “stand your ground” legislation are running a campaign of lies and fear mongering in their attempt to defeat House Bill 135.
In a written statement from the Second Amendment Sisters, former state Rep. Jenn Coffey described a scenario in which an armed passerby happened upon a man violently beating a 15-year old boy. The passerby confronted the man, let him know he was armed and stopped the attacked.
Coffey declared that if HB 135 is enacted, the passerby would have no right to defend the boy:
Now if we put HB 135 into law, that Good Samaritan would be a criminal if he were to try to stop a child from dying. Why? First, he would have no right to defend the child, and secondly he would have the ability to safety retreat from the situation and call for the police. We can only hope that with an average 10 minute response time, the police would arrive on the scene before the boy would be dead or brain damaged from such a savage beating.
This is an outright lie.
House Bill 135 would restore the state’s definition of when the use of deadly force is justified to the definition that was in effect for 34 years until Republicans changed it two years ago.
That law states that the use of deadly force is justified in defending oneself or a third party from deadly force by another person, if he or she and the third party cannot safely retreat.
Clearly, in the scenario Coffey describes, the passerby would be justified in using deadly force to defend the boy from being killed by his attacker, with or without “stand your ground.”
Coffey calls HB 135 the “Criminal’s Dream Bill.” Lawmakers should reject this campaign of lies and fear mongering.
Should a UBC be enacted either by people’s complacence, or firearm companies’ compliance, we will become the most surveilled society the world has ever seen. This effort will follow the same dangerous path that Hitler put into place, but will surpass it. This type of legislation will lead to registration, which will be used for confiscation. An unarmed society is then at the mercy of those in power. If we learn from history, we know only one more inevitability can follow -extermination.
— Former state House Rep. Jenn Coffey, on proposed universal background checks for gun sales
The New Hampshire Constitution requires the question of whether to hold a constitutional convention to be submitted to the people at least once every ten years. That question will appear on the ballot in November as Question #3.
If a simple majority of the voters who vote on Question #3 support it, 400 delegates, elected by House district, will gather for a constitutional convention. The convention may, by a three-fifths vote, propose amendments to the state Constitution, which would then go before the voters and would require a two-thirds vote to pass.
On the Porcupines Facebook page, several Free Staters, including state House Reps. Seth Cohn and Jenn Coffey, debated the question.
Cohn supports it as a means to bypass the state Senate, which has blocked some of the radical amendments proposed by the House. Coffey thinks it’s “risky” and could lead to a “runaway” convention that would propose eliminating the Second Amendment.
The consensus among others who joined the conversation was to wait ten years until more Free Staters have moved to the state. “Imagine what could be done with 1000 more movers. 2000 more. etc.”
Excerpts from the full discussion follow below the fold.
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GOP state Rep. Jenn Coffey moved to New Hampshire in 2006 after signing the Free State Project pledge. In 2008, she was elected to the New Hampshire House where she proceeded to promote the Free State Project’s radical agenda.
The legislature passed Coffey’s Knife Rights Bill which removed legal restrictions on switchblades, dirks, daggers and stilettos, but failed to pass her bill that would have eliminated the license requirement for carrying a concealed firearm. She drew national attention (mostly derisive) for her bill requiring the state to post warning signs on roads crossing the border into Massachusetts.
Coffey is running for re-election in Merrimack District 1, representing Andover, Danbury and Salisbury. Her responses to a questionnaire from LibertyCandidate.com show her radical views have not mellowed with time.
Q. What is your view of the monetary system in the U.S. today?
A. unconstitutional
Q. Is there an effective way to keep guns out of the hands of madmen and criminals without encroaching on the rights of free, law-abiding citizens?
A. no not really outside of a armed society is a good determent for crime
Q. If you could make one amendment to the U.S. Constitution, what would it be?
A. delete the 16th
The 16th amendment grants the federal government the power to collect an income tax.
In an act of shameless self promotion, GOP state Rep. Jenn Coffey has issued a press release announcing her nomination to Blade Magazine’s Cutlery Hall of Fame and highlighting her achievements for the cutlery industry.
As a member of the New Hampshire House of Representative, Jenn spearheaded groundbreaking knife rights legislation propelling New Hampshire to preeminence as the nation’s leading pro-knife state and setting the example for other states to follow. The nomination acknowledges Representative Coffey’s steadfast defense of knife rights and her tireless industry advocacy.
In 2010, New Hampshire enacted Coffey’s Knife Rights Bill, which removed restrictions on switchblades, dirks, daggers and stilettos. Though she was not ultimately selected to enter the Cutlery Hall, Coffey says she “is profoundly honored for even being considered for such a singular distinction.”
Projected Democratic seats: 190
