SB 88 What ALEC did to New Hampshire (Stand Your Ground)
On November 13, 2011 the state legislature overrode the veto of Governor John Lynch, modifying the laws on use of deadly force.
This legislation is nearly identical to numerous other similar bills pushed through other Republican controlled state legislatures at the behest of the Koch brothers funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). For more on ALEC see http://www.thenation.com/blog/165077/koch-brothers-alec-and-savage-assault-democracy.
SB88 has a few interesting features other than the now infamous Stand Your Ground part.
This bill:
I. Allows a person who is anywhere he or she has a right to be to use deadly force to protect oneself or a third person.
II. Inserts a civil immunity provision for the use of force against a perpetrator in certain circumstances.
III. Deletes the minimum mandatory sentencing requirement for felony convictions which include the possession, use, or attempted use of a firearm.
IV. Amends the definition of “non-deadly force” to include the act of producing or displaying a weapon.
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2011/SB0088.html
Item IV is particularly interesting as it allows one to brandish a gun without incurring felony charges. Brandishing is now 'non deadly force'. That ought to make for some very interesting debates on who exactly is standing which ground.
Just plain out loon would be item III which relaxes the sentencing requirement for people who actually do manage to break whatever laws remain in the state restricting the possession, use, or attempted use of a gun.
Thanks ALEC! This should be swell.
p.s. New Hampshire's violent crime rates are some of the lowest in the nation. There was zero justification for this madness.
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