Supporters of a bill to repeal New Hampshire’s “stand your ground” self-defense law told a House committee yesterday that narrowing the state’s deadly force guidelines would make people safer. Opponents said it would do the opposite.
“I was in the Army, and we used to say, ‘The best defense was a good offense.’ But I don’t believe that holds true on the streets of New Hampshire,” said House Majority Leader Steve Shurtleff, a Penacook Democrat and sponsor of the repeal bill.
But Rep. Laurie Sanborn of Bedford, the Republicans’ policy leader in the House, said the bill would effectively strip citizens of their ability to defend themselves in public places.
“Supporting this bill is telling women that they cannot defend themselves. Supporting this bill is telling a mother or a father they can not defend their children,” Sanborn said. “It’s telling the law-abiding people of this state they don’t deserve the right of personal defense.”
Shurtleff and Sanborn spoke near the start of five hours of public testimony before the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, which moved its hearing on the bill to Representatives Hall in order to accommodate the several hundred people who showed up.
N.H. House panel hears 5 hours of testimony on bill to repeal “stand your ground” law | Concord Monitor
http://openstates.org/nh/bills/2013/HB135/
