Senate Republicans Oppose Measures Against Unconstitutional Gun Overreach

CONCORD, NH – Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) and Senator Daryl Abbas (R-Salem), issued the following joint statement today on passing SB 322 and rejecting SB 360, SB 577-FN, and SB 571-FN:

“New Hampshire is the safest state in the nation because we have responsible gun owners. These unconstitutional bills infringe on the rights of our law-abiding citizens. Instituting waiting periods for purchasing firearms and restrictions on firearm sales tells our gun owners that we do not trust them. SB 360 undermines due process protections for New Hampshire gun owners by establishing a ‘red flag law.’ This is practice would unconstitutionally remove people’s firearms without a trial or conviction. We stood against this attempted gun overreach. Instead, the Senate reinforced our constitutional rights as Granite Staters by passing SB 322, making it easier for citizens to utilize gun license reciprocity by clarifying that police chiefs must sign permits. This created issues for citizens trying to prove their firearms licenses are legitimate and this bill resolves that problem. We need legislation that makes New Hampshire safer and not grow our government,” said Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson

“We already have requirements for background checks meeting the requirements of federal guidelines. SB 571-FN and SB 577-FN sends the wrong message to gun owners given our state’s longstanding culture of responsible gun ownership. These bills would open the door to more second amendment restrictions and longer waiting periods for Granite State gun purchases. We should not pass laws that simply create additional and unnecessary barriers to purchasing firearms,” added Senator Daryl Abbas

Background: SB 322 requires law enforcement officers to sign off on gun permits.

SB 360-FN would create a chapter of law that allows law enforcement to confiscate a firearm from a person that poses a significant risk to injure themselves or someone else.

SB 571-FN would require a background check prior to any commercial firearm sale and create an additional process for commercial sales of firearms where neither party is a licensed firearms dealer.

SB 577-FN would impose a three-day waiting period for delivering a firearm after purchase.

Senate Passes Bail Reform

CONCORD, NH – Senate President Jeb Bradley, (R-Wolfeboro), Majority Leader Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry), and Senate Minority Leader Donna Soucy (D-Manchester) released the following joint statement today on the Committee of Conference report for HB 318-FN, relative to bail commissioners, the standards applicable to and the administration of bail, and making an appropriation:

“Revamping our bail system has taken years of debating the best way to fix this broken system. This bill now presents a solution by combining the House and Senate positions. The changes in this bill will not only increase public safety, but will also benefit bail commissioners,” said Senator President Jeb Bradley. Safety

“We want to ensure our bail commissioners are sufficiently compensated and are properly trained to fulfill their role. This bill changes our law so that no one is denied bail if they cannot afford it. However, defendants accused of violent crimes will go in front of a judge to determine if they are a threat to the public,” added Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson.

“This agreement from the House and Senate brings a comprehensive solution to a complex problem. This new approach will play a critical role in ensuring the safety of our state,” concluded Senate Minority Leader Donna Soucy.

Senate Protects Granite Staters from the Unlawful Use of Drones

CONCORD, NH – Senator Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry), issued the following statement today on the Senate passing SB 460-FN, establishing the crime of and penalties for unlawful use of unmanned aircraft systems:

“New Hampshire’s current law lacks the appropriate measures to prevent and penalize malicious intent for using unmanned aircraft and drones. This bill ensures that Granite Staters have their privacy protected and our infrastructure is not threatened by small drones. We want to uphold our citizens’ rights and make it clear that there will be consequences for anyone using these aircraft in nefarious ways.”

Senate Passes Bill Protecting Granite Staters from AI Images

CONCORD, NH –Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) issued the following statement today on the Senate passing SB 464-FN, to prohibiting the nonconsensual dissemination of synthetic sexual images:

“The rise of Artificial Intelligence has created unforeseen circumstances in which the law has struggled to keep up with. This bill is a proactive step the state can take that will ban the dissemination of artificially generated sexual images. Creators of these images will target victims as a means to extort and manipulate them, and this legislation is a strong policy step that will protect all Granite Staters from unwanted criminal activity.”

Background: SB 464-FN expands the prohibition of nonconsensual distribution of private sexual images to include digitally created and artificially altered images to falsely depict the sexual conduct of targeted victims. Majority Leader Sharon Carson is the prime sponsor of this bill.

Taking A Stand Against Crime

By Sen. Sharon Carson

The illegal immigration surge has negatively impacted our state’s communities and has put our safety at risk. The people who are flooding into our country are not individuals who are searching for better opportunities in the United States. These people are criminals that are looking to hurt Granite Staters. Protecting our borders, blocking sanctuary cities, and strengthening our bail laws will continue making New Hampshire the safest state in the nation.

Here in New Hampshire, we have witnessed the results of our unmanned borders. Joe Biden has allowed our borders to be wide open and has made every state a border state. The Northern Border Alliance Task Force data shows there were over 7,000 illegal interactions across the Swanton Sector (the New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire borders) in 2023 which increased by 5,000 interactions from the previous year. This outlines that there are serious problems on both borders. Our neighboring state, Maine, has also dealt with illegal immigrants at their borders. On February 28th, 2024, three illegal immigrants were trying to enter the United States via the Canada-Maine border. We need sufficient funding and resources to keep our borders safe if the federal government refuses to do so. This is why New Hampshire allocated $1.4 million to the Northern Border Alliance to help combat this problem and keep our communities safe.

Other states in the region are struggling with illegal immigration every day. Look no further than New York City where Mayor Eric Adams has called for a halt in accepting any additional migrants. New York City, a self-proclaimed sanctuary city, has had enough of illegal immigrants. On February 1st, 2024, an illegal immigrant attacked New York City police officers and was released mere hours after being arrested. New York tied the hands of their law enforcement by only allowing catch and release style detainment due to New York’s practically nonexistent bail requirements. New York is seeing the consequences of their sanctuary city policies in real time and are reaping what they have sown.

This practice will not be tolerated in New Hampshire. There is no room for illegal criminals to set up shop in our state to do harm, or worse, to our citizens. Our police force needs to be able to work with ICE agents and remove these criminals from our state. We support our law enforcement and trust them to protect our communities. Funding our police and ensuring that they have the tools they need prevents the national crime wave from threatening Granite Staters. Republicans’ top priority is keeping New Hampshire the safest state in the nation and stopping the overflow of illegal migrants. However, other states have been given a front row seat to this immigration disaster.

On February 23rd, 2024, an illegal immigrant murdered Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student from the University of Georgia. Athens, Georgia is a self-proclaimed sanctuary city. On February 28th, 2024, an illegal immigrant murdered a 2-year-old boy in Langley Park, Maryland. The illegal immigrant who committed the murder was released from prison twice already and ordered to leave the country. Other southern border states, such as Texas, have been targeted and overrun with illegal immigrants daily. Even in New Hampshire, an illegal mass murderer from Brazil was arrested last August in Rye.

The illegal mayhem gripping our country right now is out of control, and it needs to stop. These examples all show that sanctuary city policies and lax bail requirements do not protect communities. New Hampshire Republicans are the only ones fighting for our communities because we know there is a problem and we do not want illegal chaos to be unleashed on our state. We are fighting to ban sanctuary cities and not allow them to be hubs for illegal criminals. We are also working on reforming our bail system so that illegal criminals are not expedited back out onto our streets like they are in New York. Actions have consequences and if there are illegal immigrants coming to the Granite State, there will be serious penalties.

Additional funding and resources helps put an end to the mass surge in illegal immigration. We cannot sit idly by as our state could unknowingly houses illegal criminals due to lax border laws. Republican Senators in Concord understand the dire need to protect our state. We are fighting to protect our borders, block sanctuary cities in New Hampshire, and improve our bail system to keep illegal immigrants out of our communities. We are doing everything we can to sound the alarm if our colleagues across the aisle refuse to do so. This is a real problem and Republicans will always fight to keep New Hampshire safe.

Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) represents Senate District 14