On February 12 New Hampshire representatives will vote on House Bill 1589, which mandates Colorado-style background checks “for all transactions at gun shows and on private sales conducted through [classified ads]” in newspapers or on the internet.
The NRA-ILA reports that House Bill 1589 “even goes so far as to virtually eliminate gun transfers between family and friends.”
In other words, private gun sales in the “Live Free or Die” state will be no more.
Like the Machin/Toomey background check bill that failed in the Senate in April, House Bill 1589 “will do nothing to reduce violent crime, and [will] only affect law-abiding gun owners by imposing cumbersome mandates and restrictions on the lawful purchase and possession of firearms.”
As California’s experiment in a ban on private gun sales has demonstrated, universal background checks will require a gun registry in order to be enforceable. Seen through this prism, the vote on House Bill 1589 is truly a vote on whether or not to start down a slippery slope.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins
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