Court Invalidates a Permit Rule as Bogus: Agency Can’t Make Up New Requirements

By Justin Stakes

Fairfax, VA -(AmmoLand.com)- In a ruling released early this month, the New Hampshire Supreme Court determined that a license condition imposed by the state’s Department of Safety had no basis in law, and invalidated the requirement as executive overreach.

New Hampshire allows nonresidents to apply for a concealed carry license. Starting in 2013, the administrative rules listing the application requirements state that the nonresident must provide proof of an existing “resident state license” to carry a concealed weapon to be eligible. Without this proof, a nonresident license will not be issued. New Hampshire’s actual licensing statute, however, lacks any reference to this requirement and requires, among other things, that the applicant be “a suitable person to be licensed.”

The plaintiffs, New Jersey resident Scott Bach (a member of the NRA Board of Directors) and the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, Inc., argued that this administrative “resident license” rule was unauthorized, invalid and unenforceable because it wasn’t based on state statute. For residents of some jurisdictions, like New Jersey, it is virtually impossible to obtain a resident license and consequently, to satisfy this “resident …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand