Author Archive | Gary Patton

HB 135 which proposes the repeal of the Stand Your Ground law will soon be coming to a vote before the full State Senate. This bill previously passed the State House, and if also approved by the State Senate, will be signed into law by Democratic governor Maggie Hassan. The Case for Repeal of  the [...]

With the help of State Senator and former professional magician Jeb Bradley, Sen. Kelly Ayotte has been trying to make the problems created by her vote against background checks magically disappear. That will be quite a trick. Surveys by UNH and New England College, respectively, showed that 94 percent and 88 percent of New Hampshire [...]

An American tragedy in Burkesville, Kentucky. On April 30, Stephanie Sparks was paying little attention to her children, 5-year-old Kristian and 2-year old Caroline, when she stepped outside her kitchen door to pour some grease from the frying pan into her dog’s dish. Suddenly, Mrs. Sparks heard a gun go off. When she rushed back [...]

Please read writer’s note at the end of this column. Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s approval ratings have been in free fall since her infamous vote against background checks on gun purchases. Last October, Public Policy Polling conducted a survey in New Hampshire which showed Ayotte with 48 percent approval and 35 percent disapproval. Shortly before Ayotte’s vote [...]

Shameful. Cynical. Selfish. Egomaniacal.  Callous. Machiavellian.  These are all words that come to mind when I consider the 46 U.S. Senators (42 Republicans and 4 Democrats) who successfully  filibustered a vote on the Manchin-Toomey gun safety bill. A majority of  senators (54) did vote to break the filibuster and vote on the bill, but that [...]

It may come as a surprise to gun absolutists, who want no regulations regarding firearms, that they are not alone in their belief. The terrorist organization Al Qaeda does not want the United States to have gun safety laws either. Adam Gadahn is a native-born American who defected to Al Qaeda and has become a [...]

The grapevine has it that a few Democratic state senators are beginning to waffle in their commitment to vote to repeal the Stand Your Ground law (HB 135). These senators have felt the impact of a strident minority of gun advocates who have flooded their offices with Emails and telephone calls. Of course, this reaction [...]

New York, Colorado, Connecticut, and Maryland have confronted the gun problem head on and passed new firearm safety laws. While Congress dithers about the gun issue, these four states have adopted a page from the Republican playbook and sought solutions close to home at a statewide level. New York was the first state to act [...]

The release of search warrants by the prosecutor shed new light on the mass killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The new information also shows how proposed gun safety regulations could have reduced the carnage at Sandy Hook had they had been in place at the time of the shooting. An article in the Washington [...]

Columnist Joe Nocera posed an interesting question: “why can’t we come up with a technology that would keep a gun from going off when held by a child? Or, for that matter, by a thief using a stolen gun? Or an angry teenager who is plotting to use his parents’ arsenal to wreak havoc in [...]