How did your State Senators and Representatives vote on firearms related legislation?

CONCORD, NH – Granite State Progress is releasing State Senate and House Report Cards on gun violence prevention votes from the 2017-2018 session. Constituents can learn how their elected officials voted on important firearms related legislation.

“We need to rally, and we need to hold our elected officials accountable,” said Zandra Rice Hawkins, executive director of Granite State Progress. “Governor Sununu and Senate Republicans have spent their time in Concord parroting gun lobby talking points instead of standing up for the safety of students and families. Meanwhile, other elected officials are working hard to advance common sense gun violence prevention measures. Constituents are encouraged to use the GSP Report Cards to learn how State Senators and Representatives voted.”

GSP Report Card: How Did Your State Senator and Reps Vote on Gun Violence Prevention?

House bills selected include votes on closing background check loopholes; prohibiting firearms at polling locations like schools and churches; banning bump stocks and raising the age of firearms purchase to 21 years old; forcing colleges to allow guns on campus; and repealing concealed carry license requirements which allows dangerous people to legally carry hidden, loaded weapons. Senate bills selected include votes on repealing concealed carry license requirements which allows dangerous people to legally carry hidden, loaded weapons; banning bump stocks; and clarifying that local school districts can establish gun free schools. The report cards also remind constituents that the very first bill Governor Chris Sununu ever signed into law allows dangerous individuals to legally carry hidden, loaded weapons.

The report cards are organized by county and formatted to 1 to 4 pages in length, depending on the size of the county, so that constituents can easily download and distribute them in their communities or at events with legislators. The report cards were distributed at several of the March for Our Lives events over the weekend.

“Just days before thousands of students and community members took to the streets in New Hampshire, Governor Sununu stood idly by while Senate Republicans blocked legislation on gun free schools despite hundreds of calls from students, parents, educators, and school administrators. It is clear that some politicians are more interested in representing the reckless gun lobby than they are in representing their constituents,” Rice Hawkins said. “We hope Granite Staters use our report cards to thank elected officials or hold accountable shameful politicians.”

The GSP Report Card on Gun Violence Prevention is the first in a series of issue-specific report cards Granite State Progress will issue over the coming months.

House Citations: HB 201, Roll Call #35, 2/16/17; HB 350, Roll Call #24, 2/15/17; Rules, Roll Call #72, 3/6/18; SB 12, Roll Call #21, 2/9/17; HB 1542, Roll Call #63 2/22/2018

Senate Citations: SB 12, Roll Call #21, 2/9/17; SB 492, Roll Call #36, 2/1/18; SB 357, Roll Call #131, 3/21/18

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Granite State Progress is a progressive advocacy organization that addresses issues of immediate state and local concern. Granite State Progress works as a communications hub for the progressive community to provide a strong, credible voice in advancing progressive solutions to critical community problems. Since 2009, Granite State Progress has tracked and weighed in on firearms policy at the state and federal level, and convenes the New Hampshire Gun Violence Prevention Coalition.