CONCORD – Today House Republican Leader Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett) and House Republican Policy Leader Rep. Laurie Sanborn (R-Bedford) offered the following statements relative to the public hearing on HB 135, a bill that would repeal certain rights to self defense.
House Republican Leader Gene Chandler
“My opinion on this bill cannot be any clearer. Quite simply, I believe that if one has a legal right to be in a certain place that they should have the legal right to defend and protect their friends, family, self and innocent people around them. It seems quite ridiculous that one would have the right to defend themselves in their own home, but that when they are in another place that they have a legal right to be in, they must turn and run.”
“Without the ability for one to stand their ground, we are instead subject to unclear boundaries of having the “ability to retreat from the encounter”. Who decides when it is feasible for someone to retreat or not? Who decides how high the obstacle must be for someone to jump over before they no longer have the ability to retreat?”
House Republican Policy Leader Laurie Sanborn
“Supporting this bill is telling women they do not have the right to defend themselves. It is telling mothers and fathers they can not defend their children.”
“On and above our Constitutional right to have and bear arms, we must recognize there is a natural, instinctive, and human right to protect one’s self in the face of danger, wherever it might present itself.”
“We must ensure our laws protect good people over bad people. We hope to defeat HB 135 and give assurance to our law abiding citizens that they to have a right to self defense.”