NRA Scorecard: Sununu, Ayotte Earn High Marks; Brown Gets An 'F'

By Leonard Robinson, NH Journal

Two weeks before New Hampshire’s Sept. 8 primary, the National Rifle Association’s political arm released its scorecard and, as usual, Granite State candidates outperformed their New England neighbors.

At the same time, some candidates received failing grades from the nation’s largest Second Amendment advocacy organization, creating potential headaches in the upcoming primary election.

“While states throughout New England look to undermine Second Amendment rights, New Hampshire continues to stand as a beacon of freedom,” said John Commerford, NRA-ILA executive director. “Protecting firearm rights does not happen by accident; it takes lawmakers who make an intentional commitment to preserve the God-given rights of their citizens.”

Commerford singled out Gov. Kelly Ayotte and U.S. Senate candidate John E. Sununu.

“They have proudly stood alongside law-abiding citizens to protect and expand their rights, and, if elected, will serve as a critical backstop to the Bloomberg anti-gun agenda.”

Sununu’s primary opponent, Scott Brown, on the other hand, received an “F,” labeling him a “true enemy of gun owners’ rights” over his past support for an assault weapons ban.

Brown has been dealing with the fallout since entering the 2026 race.

“I had an A to A- rating through all my terms as state rep, state senator and in the U.S. Senate,” Brown told a group of supporters when he launched his campaign. “And then after Sandy Hook, it hit differently for personal reasons. And I said, ‘Maybe we should look at getting rid of assault weapons.’”

“I never voted on it, and I’ve apologized so many times,” Brown added.

Sununu also won praise for his support of concealed carry reciprocity, a cause he pledges to support if he is sent back to the Senate.

“John has highlighted common-sense bills like the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act as legislation that Congress should enact,” Mike Schrimpf, Sununu’s campaign spokesman, told NHJournal. “Gun owners shouldn’t risk a felony conviction just for crossing state lines.”

Sununu also voted against an assault weapons ban in 2004 during his previous term in the U.S. Senate.

Republican state Rep. Terry Roy, who chairs the House Public Safety Committee, sees reciprocity as the most important issue for Granite State gun owners.

“Unless Democrats win the State House in November, Massachusetts is the biggest threat to New Hampshire citizens’ Second Amendment rights,” Roy told NHJournal. “Too many of our citizens fall into the trap of crossing the state border while exercising their Second Amendment rights and end up in jail.”

State Rep. Erica Layon said Brown’s rating reflects a misalignment with Republican voters.

“Scott Brown’s F rating is clearly deserved by his weakness following Sandy Hook when he vocally supported bringing back an assault weapons ban,” Layon said.

In the NH-01 GOP primary, both state Rep. Brian Cole, R-Manchester, and businessman Anthony DiLorenzo earned “A” grades.

Hollie Noveletsky earned a “?” grade, indicating a candidate “refused to answer the NRA-PVF (Political Victory Fund) candidate questionnaire or a candidate who has made contradictory statements or taken positions that are inconsistent with the candidate’s answers to the NRA-PVF candidate questionnaire or previous record,” according to the scorecard.

The NRA did not provide grades for candidates in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District race.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who earned the group’s endorsement and an A-minus grade, sparred multiple times during the past legislative session with members of her own party over gun-related bills, including an NRA-backed campus carry bill that Ayotte did not clearly state whether she would sign.

Roy touted New Hampshire Republicans’ advances on Second Amendment issues, ranging from legislation protecting financial privacy in firearm purchases to modernizing carry laws for snowmobiles and blocking efforts to impose red-flag confiscation orders and weaken statewide firearm preemption.

The NRA and its allies worked on several major reforms surrounding campus carry in the UNH system (HB 1793), expanding state preemption to cover both political subdivisions and quasi-governmental agencies like UNH, and limiting state agency rulemaking authority (HB 609). Those efforts died in the House last session, but they will return in a single Senate bill package next session, sources say.

“House Republicans have been unwavering in protecting our 2nd Amendment rights over the last six years since reclaiming the majority from the Democrats,” Roy said. “Democrat predictions of imminent doom notwithstanding, New Hampshire has remained one of the safest states in the country since passing Constitutional Carry.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.