No Brass Knuckles Allowed: Senate Committee Balks At Lifting Ban On Blackjacks, Other Weapons

By Annmarie Timmins, New Hampshire Bulletin

Get caught in New Hampshire with brass knuckles, a blackjack club, or slung shot and you could face misdemeanor charges. The police can also take them. Despite efforts of largely House Republicans, that looks unlikely to change.

In a 4-1 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee is recommending the full Senate kill House Bill 31, which would lift the prohibition on selling and possessing those items, often referred to as street-fighting weapons, in most cases. A blackjack is a weighted leather club, usually eight to 12 inches long. A slung shot, different from a slingshot, is a weight attached to the end of a hand-held cord.

It is illegal to sell or possess those weapons in most situations. The Republican-sponsored legislation repealing that prohibition passed the House in March, 196-176, largely along party lines.

Rep. James Spillane, a Deerfield Republican and the bill’s prime sponsor, told a House committee earlier this year that the law allows possession of more lethal weapons.

“We allowed knives of any length to be legal in New Hampshire over 12 years ago,” he said. “We have people able to carry firearms for self-defense, and the truth is that blackjacks, slung shots, and brass knuckles are purely non-lethal defense weapons tools to be used to protect yourself.”

Although more than two dozen people registered opposition to the bill when it was before the Senate Judiciary Committee, none testified to say why. The full Senate is scheduled to take up the bill Thursday.

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