Most Local State Reps. Wisely Vote to Ban Guns from Legislature

The Democratic majority in the State House got the new session of the legislature off to a good start by banning the carrying of concealed handguns on the House floor. As before, armed police officers will continue to be on site to protect both the public and legislators. 

For 40 years guns carried by legislators were banned until two years ago when Republicans approved them. The new House rule merely restored a sensible tradition.

Pro-gun advocates argued that guns in the hands of state representatives could protect against a potential shooter located in the House gallery. It strains credibility to believe that someone on the House floor armed with a handgun could wound or kill at a distance an assailant situated in a crowded gallery populated in part by children on school trips. The greater likelihood is that innocent members of the public would be inadvertently injured in the crossfire.

The presence of concealed guns on the House floor also had a dampening effect on the reasonable debate of issues. How could an unemotional, rational, and even-handed discussion occur when the person with whom a member was arguing might be carrying a gun?

Below is a summary of how state representatives from the Seacoast voted on this House rule. Yes means a member voted to ban guns on the House floor. No indicates the person voted to permit guns on the floor. D stands for Democrat; R for Republican. 

Hampton – Tracy Emerick (R) and Fred Rice (R) voted No. Chris Muns (D) and Renny Cushing (D) voted Yes.

Hampton/Hampton Falls/Seabrook – Elaine Andrews Ahearn (D) voted Yes. 

North Hampton – Michele Peckham (R) did not vote. 

Rye/ New Castle – David Borden (D) and Tom Sherman (D) voted Yes. 

Portsmouth – Laura Pantelakos (D), Rebecca Emerson-Brown (D), Gerald Ward (D), Brian Wazlaw (D), and Jackie Cali-Pitts (D) all voted Yes. By custom, Speaker Terie Norelli (D) did not vote. 

Portsmouth/North Hampton/Greenland/Newington – Joseph Scarlotto (D) – No 

There is a time and a place for everything. Hunters have a legitimate need for firearms. Some people believe a gun is needed in their homes to protect their families and themselves. However, it is hard to understand how guns on the floor of the legislature do anything but increase the risk of injury to all concerned. 

Rather, the insistence that firearms be available to legislators seems part of a campaign to convince the public that guns need to be carried in all places at all times. That paranoid world view would cause people to think and act differently, much to their detriment.   

Sometimes, our behavior shapes our thoughts, rather than the reverse. In classic experiments where some volunteer participants wore prison guard uniforms and others wore prisoners’ clothes, lo and behold, in time, the former began to think and act like guards and the latter like prisoners.

If we carry guns at all times and all places, the way we think and act will change. Every person we meet on the street will be seen not as possible friend, but rather as a potential assailant. The world will be seen as a hostile place where danger lurks everywhere, not as a welcoming place where we can work with others to our mutual benefit. 

And what will we gain? Elisabeth Rosenthal writes in the New York Times (1/6/13), “Scientific studies have consistently found that places with more guns have more violent deaths, both homicides and suicides.” There are those who will strongly disagree with that statement, arguing that studies show just the reverse.

But not all “scientific evidence” is really scientific and often reflects more what a person wants to be the case, not what really is true. When Nicolaus Copernicus offered evidence in 1543 that the Earth wasn’t the center of the universe, but rather orbited the Sun, he met widespread opposition to his idea. Believing that the Earth is the center of the universe is very pleasing and gratifying to humans, just as thinking that guns will solve society’s problems is flattering to some gun enthusiasts. 

So, if we want our state legislators to think and act more like Socrates and less like Wild Bill Hickok, keeping guns off the floor of the State House seems like a good idea.