Gun rights activists politicize Manchester shooting death of Union Leader sales representative
Gun rights activists are exploiting a fatal shooting in Manchester in an attempt to build support for legislation that would repeal the state’s license requirement for carrying a concealed firearm.
The New England chapter of Gun Rights Across America has posted a Facebook meme that features a photo of Denise Robert, the longtime advertising sales representative with the Union Leader who was shot to death in Manchester on Sunday night. Authorities have not yet made an arrest in the case.
“If it can happen to a 62 year old woman enjoying her evening walk in the North End of the city of Manchester, it can happen to you in your neighborhood,” the meme reads. “Manchester has 231 police officers! How many are in your home town?”
The post asks viewers to call their state legislators and urge them to vote to override Gov. Maggie Hassan’s veto of Senate Bill 116, which would repeal the concealed carry license requirement.
The governor explained her veto in a statement released earlier this year. “New Hampshire’s current concealed carry permitting law has worked well for nearly a century – ensuring the Second Amendment rights of our citizens while helping to keep the Granite State one of the safest states in the nation,” she wrote.
Senate Bill 116 was originally approved by the Senate 14-9, in a straight party line vote. The Senate is scheduled to take up the governor’s veto when it reconvenes on September 16. If all the senators are present, two Democrats would have to vote with the Republican majority in order to override the governor’s veto.
If the Senate does vote to override the veto, which is considered unlikely, the bill would then advance to the House, which passed the bill in a 212-150 vote, well short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override the governor’s veto.
Gun Rights Across America claims to be the nation’s “premier 100% grassroots and volunteer” gun rights organization. It is led by Eric Reed, an airline captain in Texas who founded the group in response to the Newtown school shootings.
Gun Lobby Watch refers to GRAA as the social media warriors of the gun lobby. “Nazi references. Vile sexism. Obama jokes. GRAAW has them all,” they write.