like the title says, a friend has had a trucking company and a firearms business in a NH town since 1989, all of a sudden the town wants him to live in town before they will give him a license for the gun business,, he doesn't need to live in town if its just the trucking company. This sounds like BS to me. Thoughts?
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Town forcing a firearm dealer to live in the same town as the business,,, legality?
- Thread starter me109g4
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They are getting emboldened by some wins in lower courts in NH. And that area of NH is particular bad for some reason (Assuming they are near you in or around Rindge). I don't know NH law well enough to know if it's legal as per state law, but there are likely some constitutional issues with it, and not based in the 2A. See Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Assn. v. Thomas. BTW: That case isn't on point, but reflects the EP issues surrounding this type of exclusionary law. Also, if they have an existing license, there is a property interest in the continuation of the license (and I don't think that NH has foreclosed that like the MA SJC has). They should not give in on this.
It sounds like one of those NH towns along the MA border run by people who want to pretend they live in MA--or it could be the seacoast. If the apparatchiks are trying to throw up barriers to entry for his firearm business, they will pull out all the stops. Your friend should get a lawyer for what is to come.
