State Rep. David Meuse, D-Portsmouth, was the prime author of legislation to create a voluntary list of adults who do not want to be eligible to possess firearms. The House killed the bill Thursday.
State Rep. David Meuse, D-Portsmouth, was the prime author of legislation to create a voluntary list of adults who do not want to be eligible to possess firearms. The House killed the bill Thursday.
CONCORD — Gun rights advocates had a very good day in the closely divided House of Representatives Thursday.
The House rejected a gun control bill and advanced two others aimed at protecting the personal privacy of gun owners and the right of gun owners to try and get their guns back that had been taken after an arrest.
Supporters failed to get House backing Thursday for legislation that would have allowed adults to voluntarily put themselves on a list of people ineligible to possess firearms.
A House committee had endorsed the bill, but the full House voted 205-175 against passing it (HB 1050).
State Rep. David Meuse, D-Portsmouth, said he crafted his bill carefully to help people dealing with a mental health crisis by letting them be on a state-created list of those who can’t possess guns.
“The only person that can put you on the list or take you off the list is you,” Meuse said. “Contrary to what you may have heard, this bill doesn’t take anybody’s guns away.”
House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee Chairman Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, said he feared this could be used to create momentum for more restrictive controls over gun ownership.
People could become pressured by family members or health care providers to sign up on the list, he warned.
“This could force someone to choose between keeping their gun rights or losing their doctor,” Roy said.
In the House, 12 Democrats joined in the vote to kill the bill; Rep. John Sytek of Salem was the only Republican in the chamber who supported the measure.
Under the voluntary program, the Department of Safety would have maintained a list of anyone 18 years or older who wanted to be ineligible to buy a firearm.
After a minimum of 60 days, the person could apply to have their name removed from the list.
Washington became the first state to create such a list in 2019.
The House approved, 203-174, legislation to prevent credit card processing network companies from attaching a special code that would identify when consumers used their credit card to purchase a weapon (HB 1186).
The measure cleared the House and was sent to the state Senate for review.
The other approved bill (HB 1339) Thursday sets a time frame for a judge to grant a hearing to any adult who applies to get back firearms taken during an earlier arrest.
The leadership in both parties had approved the way this bill had been worked out; it passed on a voice vote.
The measure goes to the House Finance Committee for additional study.
The firearm merchants code emerged as an issue when the International Organization for Standardization approved the idea in September 2022 and published the proposal last February.
In response, lawmakers in seven states, mostly in the south and west, passed laws in 2023 blocking the code from being used there.
Gov. Gavin Newsom made California the first to require firearms dealers to attach the codes to all gun purchases in that state.
Last March, the four major credit card companies announced they were suspending the program likely until the Congress or a majority of states took a firm position on whether they would approve of its use or not.
