On Wednesday, March 19, 2008 the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security released the report of bills from its executive session. This report lists those bills that the Committee recommends for passage into law (Favorable), bills that shouldn't pass (Adverse) and bills that are placed into "Study". Bills placed into a "Study" rarely see the light of day for the remainder of the legislative session.

The news was mixed but slightly favored a pro-civil rights stance. Every piece of anti-civil rights legislation was placed into study. Unfortunately GOAL's Fair Licensing Bill and our bill to correct the AG's interference in purchasing ammunition were also sent into study.

On a positive note, some GOAL bills were released favorably. These include (Please our legislative chart for a complete list.):

S1400 "An Act Relative to Property Rights"

S1401 "An Act Prohibiting the Confiscation of Lawfully Owned Firearms During a State of Emergency"

S1359 "An Act Relative to Certain Ammunition"

H2326 "An Act Relative to Firearm Statistics"

The Committee also released a bill to remove the licensing laws for pepper spray, H2385 "An Act Relative to Increasing Accessibility to Non-lethal Self Defense Sprays". The bill does include an age restriction for possession and purchase at 18. It also adds some penalties for "offensive use" and restrictions for protection orders. In all it is a bill worth supporting.