Published: 05/15/2007 Concealed-gun law eyed in state
CONCORD (AP) - Some of the state's police chiefs say they would be happy to have clearer rules on issuing - and revoking - permits for people to carry concealed guns. "There's literally no definition of what's a suitable standard to hand out a permit," said Bradford Police Chief Jim Valiquet, president of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police. In a case argued before the state Supreme Court last week, Edward Bleiler of Dover is challenging the law and the revocation of his permit by Dover police without police having charged him with a crime. His lawyer said the law gives police chiefs too much discretion in denying or revoking permits. But several police chiefs told the Concord Monitor they disagree. They said the law doesn't let them use their knowledge of a person's background, beyond criminal convictions, in determining whether that person should have a concealed-weapon permit. The one-page permit application asks if the person has been convicted of a felony, is a drug addict, has mental-health problems or a history of domestic violence. Some chiefs believe they have little or no choice if an applicant does not fall into any of those categories. "It's one of the things I find most disturbing about my job, because I don't feel like I have any choice (but) to sign," said Lebanon Police Chief Jim Alexander. Alexander said he received a concealed-carry application last year from a Lebanon resident he said was a known member of a criminal gang, although the man had never been convicted of a felony. When Alexander denied the man a permit, the man successfully appealed to the local district court. "We have this law, but it doesn't allow police chiefs and judges to use common sense," he said. "This law lets people feel good and think there's gun control, but it doesn't give a chief the ability to exercise discretion." In Bleiler's case, Dover police revoked his permit based on what they described as a history of reckless behavior. Boscawen Chief David Croft believes the law tightly limits his discretion. "What I know from personal contact with someone is not enough. It doesn't meet the burden," Croft said. "I base my decision only on the application they submit. I would like to deny someone a license sometimes, but we have to deal in fact." Advocates for gun owners' rights say lawmakers intended to set a high bar for denying or revoking a concealed-weapon license. Penny Dean, an attorney for Gun Owners of New Hampshire, said the current law is clear and problems only arise from the way some police chiefs chose to interpret it.
Dean said she's heard of chiefs requiring fingerprints or photographs from people seeking concealed-weapons licenses; chiefs who amend the state-issued application form to collect more information than the law requires; and chiefs who've taken longer than the required 14 days to act on applications. "The sad thing is the law is very straightforward," Dean said. "But I have to say, some of these chiefs get creative. There's been a lot of arbitrary enforcement." - Information from: Concord Monitor, http://www.cmonitor.com
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