New Hampshire
New Hampshire lawmakers weigh half-dozen gun laws following hospital shooting
- New Hampshire lawmakers on Friday heard arguments in favor of various bills drafted in the wake of a deadly shooting at a psychiatric hospital last year.
- Mental health records, protection orders and firearm carry laws are among key targets of the various proposals.
- “Rather than pushing more discriminatory gun confiscation bills, why don’t we actually do something to address the serious mental health issues we have?” Kimberly Morin of the Women’s Defense League said of the legislation.
The associate medical director of New Hampshire Hospital urged lawmakers to pass gun control legislation Friday, describing the anguish that followed the fatal shooting of a security officer in the facility’s lobby last year.
“A coworker was murdered 100 feet from my office,” Dr. Samanta Swetter told the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. “Then I had to sit there while other people I loved were in danger, and I could do very little to help them.”
The committee was holding public hearings on half a dozen bills seeking to either restrict or expand access to firearms, including one drafted in response to the death of Bradley Haas, who was killed in November by a former patient at the psychiatric hospital in Concord.
NEW HAMPSHIRE HOUSE REJECTS FURTHER EXPANSION, OR RESTRICTION OF ABORTION ACCESS
While federal law prohibits those who have been involuntarily committed to psychiatric institutions from purchasing guns, New Hampshire currently does not submit mental health records to the database that gun dealers use for background checks. “Bradley’s Law,” which has bipartisan support, would require those records to be submitted. It also creates a process by which someone could have their gun ownership rights restored when they are no longer a danger to themselves or others.
Swetter, speaking on behalf of the New Hampshire Psychiatric Society, described hearing a scream and then being told about the shooting by a worker who ran into her office and hid behind the door. She then spent an hour trying to call different departments because the hospital’s paging system wasn’t working.
The New Hampshire State House, the state capitol building of New Hampshire, is seen on February 16, 2023 in Concord, New Hampshire. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“These people aren’t just people I work with, they’re my family, and I couldn’t tell them that they were in danger,” she said. “It was genuinely one of the worst moments of my life, just not being able to protect people. I’m a health care professional to help people, and I couldn’t.”
The gunman who killed Haas was shot to death by a state trooper assigned to the hospital. Haas was unarmed, and opponents of the bill argued having such workers carrying guns would save more lives than restricting others’ access. One opponent suggested that the bill could apply to those hospitalized for bulimia or other mental health conditions, while others argued it would do nothing to stop criminals from getting guns.
“If someone is violently mentally ill, why would they be even released from a secure mental health facility?” said Kimberly Morin of the Women’s Defense League. “Rather than pushing more discriminatory gun confiscation bills, why don’t we actually do something to address the serious mental health issues we have?”
The committee also held public hearings on a bill that would make it easier for gun owners to store their guns in their cars at work and another that could make it easier for those who are subject to domestic violence protective orders to get their weapons back. It also heard testimony on a bill to create a process by which gun owners could voluntarily add themselves to the federal background check database. Supporters said it could help someone who had considered suicide in the past and wants to protect themselves going forward.
“By taking this simple step, we can take the quickest, the deadliest in our state and the most common form of suicide off the table for people who simply go the extra step of asking us to take it off the table,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. David Mueuse, D-Portsmouth.
Donna Morin, whose 21-year-old son died by suicide in 2022, told the committee the bill would not have saved his life, but it could save her own.
“The pain that I feel every single day, it has brought me to thoughts of suicide,” said Morin, of Manchester. “I’m speaking publicly about this, even though it’s terrifying, because I really feel that this bill is that important. The goal of this bill is to allow a person like myself to make a decision when they are in a calm mind and not in emotional distress.”
Morin compared it to creating a living will to outline treatment preferences in end-of-life situations when you can’t speak for yourself.
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“You’re asking what kind of person would do it? It would be me,” she said. “I don’t want to have a moment of weakness where I can’t see that life’s not worth living, because it is.
New Hampshire officials are welcoming a manufacturer that’s moving to the Granite State from Massachusetts, as the Healey admin has convened a council to address the Bay State’s sluggish economic competitiveness.
SynQor, a company that builds power converters for the military and other industries, has alerted Massachusetts labor and workforce officials that it will depart its Boxboro headquarters and relocate to the Granite State early next year.
Officials for the electronics manufacturer have not provided the exact reasons for the move, other than telling the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development that all positions and jobs based in Boxboro will be transferred to a new facility in Salem, N.H.
The move is expected to bring about 250 jobs to New Hampshire, marking the second Bay State company to relocate to the Granite State this year.
“SynQor is moving its HQ — and 250 jobs — from Massachusetts to New Hampshire!” Granite State Gov. Kelly Ayotte said in a social media post on Wednesday. “As the #1 state for economic freedom, we’re a beacon of opportunity for companies looking to grow. No better place to live, work, or raise a family than the Granite State!”
Analogic Corp., a health care and security technology company, announced in January that it would relocate its Peabody headquarters, bringing about 500 jobs to Salem, a town of about 30,000, just over the border.
Salem Town Councilor and New Hampshire state Rep. Joe Sweeney is applauding SynQor and Analogic for bringing their companies north, moves that he calls a “predictable result of years of smart policy, disciplined leadership and a clear belief in free-market principles.”
“As a Salem Town Councilor and as Deputy Majority Leader in the New Hampshire House, I have seen what happens when a state chooses growth instead of government control,” Sweeney stated in a social media post on Wednesday. “For more than a decade, New Hampshire Republicans have reduced employer taxes, cut regulations and created a climate where businesses are treated as partners who help drive prosperity.”
This all comes as Massachusetts continues to rank as a bottom-10 state for economic competitiveness. The Tax Foundation, a national watchdog group, credits the sluggishness to the Bay State’s “overly burdensome individual income taxes, property taxes, and UI taxes.”
Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Kim Driscoll have convened a Massachusetts Competitiveness Council to develop strategies to strengthen the state’s business and economic climate. The council of more than 20 leaders from business, labor, research and state government met for the first time on Wednesday.
Healey created the council in October to “advise her administration on policies and initiatives that support businesses, grow jobs, and ensure Massachusetts remains a leader in innovation, talent and quality of life.”
“I want Massachusetts firing on all cylinders, and winning the best jobs, investments, startups, companies and talent,” Healey said in a statement on Wednesday. “And we know that the ideas don’t all come from government, but from the people on the ground working to innovate and grow businesses every day.”
The Massachusetts High Technology Council is urging the council to prioritize reviewing state and local tax burdens and incentives or credits for firms that stay and expand in the Bay State, while addressing housing, transportation and energy costs.
“It’s time to stop treating high taxes and overregulation as immutable,” High Tech Council President Christopher Anderson said in a statement. “If Massachusetts wants to keep and attract the businesses driving innovation, growth and high-paying jobs, the time to act is now.”
Paul Craney, the executive director of state watchdog Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, is slamming Healey’s business mandates.
“Gov. Maura Healey is requiring any business over 20,000 feet to report their carbon footprint for an eventual carbon tax,” he told the Herald, “while NH offers no income taxes and a welcome from their Governor. Quite the difference.”
CONCORD, N.H. (ABC22/FOX44) – New Hampshire officials are seeking public assistance in relation to the unsolved homicide of Louise Chaput, who died 24 years ago. This announcement was made by state Attorney General John Formella and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark Hall earlier this week.
The 52-year-old psychologist was found dead near the Glen Boulder Trail in the White Mountains’ Presidential Range November 22, 2001. Investigators determined she was stabbed to death.
While the mystery of her death has still not been solved, state officials have come out with a photo showing a backpack similar to the one she had – and which disappeared along with several other of her personal belongings, including a blue Kanuk sleeping bag and her car keys.
Chaput was last seen on November 15, 2001. A receipt found in her car indicated that she had stopped at a convenience store in Colebrook earlier in the afternoon, and an employee at a nearby lodge said that a woman he identified as Chaput had asked about a short hike she could go on at around 3:00 p.m.
Her family reported her missing on November 19, and her body was found a few days later.
“The passage of time has not diminished our resolve to find out what happened to Louise Chaput. We know someone out there… encountered something that can help us understand her final hours,” said Senior Assistant Attorney General R. Christopher Knowles.
New Hampshire’s Cold Case Unit is seeking possible information from people hiking in the Pinkham Notch region, on the date of Chaput’s last known sighting. Those that were active on forums discussing weather conditions in the White Mountains around that time should also contact investigators, authorities say.
Anyone with information can contact the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit via email, for by calling (603) 271-2663.
New Hampshire
Fatal House Fire Reported In One Community, Building Fires Go To 6-Alarms In Another | Hit-And-Runs: PM Patch
Community Corner
Yankee Candle to shutter stores; pie company rolls out regionally; homeless felon, out of jail, accused of burglary; holiday happenings.
CONCORD, NH — Here are some share-worthy stories from the New Hampshire Patch network to discuss this afternoon and evening.
This post features stories and information published during the past 24 hours.
Capital Region Firefighters Extinguish 2-Alarm Fatal House Fire In Boscawen: Video: Firefighters spent several hours on Gage Street Monday night extinguishing a house fire. One man died after being taken out of the building.
Find out what’s happening in Concordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Six Alarm Fire In Nashua Injures Three, Fire Consumes Multiple Buildings: Nashua fighters arrived to heavy fire that was quickly spreading from the rear of an Ash Street building, spreading to Vine Street.
Homeless Felon Arrested On Burglary, Theft, And Mischief Charges After Multi-Week Investigation: Vincent Segura was accused of burglarizing the Suds Appeal laundromat in the West End in June; Richard Kuchinsky was charged in September.
Find out what’s happening in Concordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Yankee Candle To Close 20 Stores, Parent Company To Lay Off 900 Workers: What It Means For New Hampshire: 9 Yankee Candle locations in the Granite State, including Manchester, Merrimack, Nashua, and Salem, could be affected.
Bedford’s Slightly Crooked Pies Launches Wholesale Operations, Now Distributed To 3 States: Boston Artisan Breads will distribute the award-winning pastries to eastern Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire, and Maine.
Chamber Of Commerce Celebrates Grand Opening Of The Honorary Consulate Of Hungary For New England: The Southern New Hampshire Chamber of Commerce celebrated the opening of the consulate office in Derry last month.
Woman Accused Of Striking Pedestrian During Drunken Driving Hit-And-Run: New Hampshire State Police Roundup: Plus: Dispatch supervisor wins award; Rumney man arrested in stolen motorcycle cash; blotters from around the state.
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