NH Senate/House Leadership attempting to limit access to the State House

Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
1,631
Likes
1,365
Feedback: 4 / 0 / 0
This is an anti-gun effort on the part of House and Senate leadership. The want to limit access so that metal detectors can be installed and they can limit carry by the citizens and
reps.



From the Concord Monitor.


State House guards will soon be armed with guns and some building
entrances will be off limits to the public as part of a major policy shift
meant to strengthen security.

“We’re looking at our vulnerabilities,” said House Chief of Staff Terry
Pfaff. “It’s a different world we live in. These are prudent steps.”

A legislative facilities committee, composed of high-ranking senators and
representatives, recently approved the change.

Security guards who patrol the State House complex will begin carrying
sidearms when they complete training courses in about three weeks, Pfaff
said.

The eight-person force is not currently armed, but it is supplemented by
two auxiliary state police officers who do carry weapons. Visitors and
lawmakers are allowed to carry guns in most parts of the State House and
Legislative Office Building, which are open to the public on weekdays.

“It’s good that security will be armed,” said House Minority Leader Steve
Shurtleff. “It’s somewhat ironic that we allow people into the State House
armed, but our own security force is not.”

The change will also limit public entry points to the State House, so that
guards can keep a better eye on comings and goings, Shurtleff said.

Visitors will only be able to enter the State House through the front door
and a handicapped-accessible side door off Park Street.


Lawmakers and staff will be given key cards to swipe into the building’s
back entrances off North State Street, and to use an underground tunnel
that connects the State House to the Legislative Office Building, where
most public hearings are held. The tunnel is heavily trafficked in the
wintertime by lawmakers, visitors and lobbyists.

State House leaders will alert the public and lawmakers when those changes
go into effect, most likely later this summer.

The 10-member Joint Legislative Facilities Committee unanimously approved
the entrance policy Tuesday. The committee discussed arming the guards at
a meeting several months ago, before House Speaker Shawn Jasper and Senate
President Chuck Morse signed off on the policy.

Morse, a Salem Republican on the committee, said the changes are a
“logical” way to enhance security.

The security measures are not prompted by any specific incident, but come
as the result of a State House security assessment commissioned by
legislative leaders.

“We know, in light of the threat posed by lone-wolf terrorists, that we
needed to look at the infrastructure and security concerns in this
building,” said Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, a Wolfeboro
Republican. “We have to address them carefully to keep the building as
accessible as we can, but also protect the safety of people who are here
on a routine basis.”

The security changes at the State House reflect a broader trend across
state government of preparing for potential threats. Following several
mass shootings last year, all 11,000 state employees have had to complete
a mandatory training on active shooter situations.

The House in recent years has gone back and forth over whether its members
can carry concealed firearms in the chamber, gallery and cloakrooms. They
presently can, after Republican representatives approved the change last
year in the name of self defense.

The push to arm State House guards has grown in recent years. Republican
Rep. Al Baldasaro proposed a bill in 2015 to arm the guards that patrol
the building. “We want to make sure we have a little extra protection,” he
told the Monitor then.

There hasn’t been a shooting at the New Hampshire State House in recent
years, but some gun mishaps have made headlines. Former Northwood
representative Kyle Tasker, a Republican, dropped his concealed handgun on
the floor as he was entering a committee hearing in 2012.

Shurtleff said security changes are necessary for the State House to keep
up with the times.

“We always hope for the best,” Shurtleff said. “But we do need a plan for
the possibility of something catastrophic happening.”

(Allie Morris can be reached at 369-3307 or [email protected].)

> Note all the doors that will now be closed including the tunnel
>
> http://www.concordmonitor.com/State...block-several-entrances-to-the-public-2985877
>
 
The main reason is to let legislators slip out the back without having to mingle with the riffraff.

A gun ban and metal detectors are sure to follow.
 
Back
Top Bottom