Some interesting news out of New Hampshire. Seems a 16 year old boy in Milford, NH applied for a LTC and it was issued to him.
The law on this in NH is quite clear. The chief of police "shall issue" a LTC if the applicant has "good reason to fear injury to (himself or herself) or property or has any proper purpose, and that the applicant is a suitable person to be licensed. Hunting, target shooting, or self defense shall be considered a proper purpose."
Nowhere in the law does it say that there's a mimum age requirement so the chief of police said that, while he didn't want to issue the LTC, the law in quite clear and he had to.
An article in the local paper went on to note that the only way the kid can get a handgun is if it's given to him by a parent or guardian, same with ammunition.
Some politicians are upset about this and will try and change the law to make 18 the minimum age. The paper also noted that the kid refused to put his Social Security number on the application but, since the law does not require this, this did not prevent the granting of the LTC.
Also, the article makes a point of the fact that it's illegal for him to carry at school but since he's 'home schooled', that does not seem to apply.
As an aside, a chief of police in an adjoining town said that he would not issue such an LTC and that the kid would have to take him to court to force him to do so. The local paper, in an editorial, said that while they agree that no 16 year old should have an LTC, they think that chiefs of police should enforce laws, as written, and if they didn't like the laws they should work to have them changed.
The law on this in NH is quite clear. The chief of police "shall issue" a LTC if the applicant has "good reason to fear injury to (himself or herself) or property or has any proper purpose, and that the applicant is a suitable person to be licensed. Hunting, target shooting, or self defense shall be considered a proper purpose."
Nowhere in the law does it say that there's a mimum age requirement so the chief of police said that, while he didn't want to issue the LTC, the law in quite clear and he had to.
An article in the local paper went on to note that the only way the kid can get a handgun is if it's given to him by a parent or guardian, same with ammunition.
Some politicians are upset about this and will try and change the law to make 18 the minimum age. The paper also noted that the kid refused to put his Social Security number on the application but, since the law does not require this, this did not prevent the granting of the LTC.
Also, the article makes a point of the fact that it's illegal for him to carry at school but since he's 'home schooled', that does not seem to apply.
As an aside, a chief of police in an adjoining town said that he would not issue such an LTC and that the kid would have to take him to court to force him to do so. The local paper, in an editorial, said that while they agree that no 16 year old should have an LTC, they think that chiefs of police should enforce laws, as written, and if they didn't like the laws they should work to have them changed.