Interesting New Hampshire Case

A court challenge to New Hampshire’s concealed carry laws fails:

The case arose from an incident at Dover City Hall on March 16, 2006, during which Bleiler, a resident of Isaac Lucas Circle, displayed a handgun in the office of City Attorney Allan Krans. The gun was used as a prop to tell a story, and though Krans said in court that he did not feel threatened, he did call Fenniman immediately afterward to report the incident.

If the firearm was at any point drawn from the holster, even if it wasn’t brandished, it’s definitely stupid. You don’t use a loaded firearm as a “prop”. Period.

…He also argued that state law allowing municipalities to revoke concealed weapons permits for “just cause” is too vague and allows for arbitrary enforcement.

The Supreme Court ruled state law does in fact give someone of “ordinary intelligence” notice of what conduct could lead to a revocation.

According to state law, no permit is required to own a firearm but one is required if the firearm is going to be concealed…

There’s a good rule of thumb if you’re going to litigate on constitutional rights like this: take a case before the court that’s actually an example of abuse of discretion! This case would not appear to be it. Most people, including myself (though I am opposed to discretionary clauses like this), think that if you believe using a loaded weapon as a prop in a conversation is smart behavior, you should probably rethink carrying a firearm in public.

UPDATE: Another case along a similar vein from New Hampshire.