Nottingham NH restores rights to town employees

The town selectmen of Nottingham, NH have recently decided against allowing a decade-old prohibition to stand. The paragraph in the Employee Handbook that bans the right that New Hampshire residents enjoy, has been removed.

The town has no legal authority to ban any civil rights, whether town employee or not.

This would lead into an interesting discussion about what would happen if an off-duty clerk came in to the town to renew his car license plates. Would he be allowed to pray? Would he be allowed to read a newspaper? Would he be allowed to keep silent if questioned by police? These are all rights listed in the Bill of Rights. What would change if he were on-duty?

From other newspaper accounts, we see that most of the townspeople either are not concerned about the rule change, or didn't even know it happened. This would lead one to believe that it is a non-issue. So who is making it an issue?

<blockquote>
"I think it's just too dangerous," says Gail Mills, who recently ran for the Board of Selectmen <strong>and lost</strong>. Her concerns are threefold - she's worried about Nottingham's insurance rate, the safety of kids at the town hall's recreation center, and liability."

</blockquote>

(emphasis ours)

<a href="http://www.necn.com/07/01/10/NH-town-approves-guns-at-work/landing.html?... NECN</a>