New Hampshire State legislature votes on a bill to override all federal gun legislation

On Friday, May 6, 2022, the state legislature of New England's Texas, also known as New Hampshire, voted to pass the HB1178 bill, which makes it illegal for anyone to enforce any federal gun laws. No seriously this is what it says:

This bill prohibits the state of New Hampshire, a political subdivision of this state, or any person acting under the color of state, county, or municipal law from using any personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer, or cooperate with any law, act, rule, order, or regulation of the United States Government or Executive Order of the President of the United States that is inconsistent with any law of this state regarding the regulation of firearms, ammunition, magazines or the ammunition feeding devices, firearm components, firearms supplies, or knives.

The bill also makes it clear that state, county, or local officials are still allowed to cooperate with a law enforcement agency that's investigating a violation of federal gun laws, provided that the person of interest has also violated some other New Hampshire laws.

I don't know how enforceable this legalized non-enforcement will actually be, but I suspect it's going to turn into one helluva legal precedent. It might just also turn Hampton Beach (the only part of the state that's not landlocked) into an even more wretched hive of scum and villainy, if, say, it were to become a hub of international arms trafficking to circumvent other US federal regulations. But hey, you can play some skeeball on the boardwalk and buy a bazooka in one quick trip! How convenient!

Unfortunately, it might take more than a bazooka to stop the state's entire bear population from evicting libertarians.

New Hampshire House Bill 1178

Image: Public Domain via Flickr