House Approves Conceal Carry Reform Bill

The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a new law allowing persons in New Hampshire to carry a loaded and concealed pistol or revolver without approval of police chiefs or a license.

SB 116 was approved by a 212 to 150 vote margin, according to reports.

Republicans, including the bill’s sponsor, Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, praised the House vote while Democrats criticized it in press statements after the vote.

“This modest bill merely allows somebody who has the right already to openly carry a weapon to do so on a concealed basis without securing a license,” Bradley said. “Vermont had long allowed this right to its citizens and is the safest state in the nation.”

Gov. Maggie Hassan, D-Exeter, however, issued a veto threat memo before the vote stating that current law, on the books for more than 90 years, was working.

“Law enforcement, as well as citizens across New Hampshire, have strong public safety concerns about allowing people to carry concealed guns without a license and oppose removing the protections that the licensing process offers to help ensure that potentially dangerous individuals are not allowed to carry hidden weapons,” she noted.

Hassan, in her statement, also quoted former Gov. Meldrum Thomson, a political icon of conservatives, who supported the conceal carry law. Thomson, she said, thought “the current permitting process for concealed carry is ‘a sensible handgun law that leaves the issuance of handgun permits to the discretion of [local law enforcement],’” according to a passage from his book.

But after the vote, House Majority Leader Jack Flanagan, R-Brookline, added that the concerns leveled by opponents were unwarranted.

“This bill does not extend rights of those who would be otherwise prohibited by state or federal law from possessing a firearm,” he said. “Those with criminal intent will continue to obtain, carry, and use firearms in illegal ways. Impeding the rights of lawful gun owners based on the actions of criminals is unfair. The House vote today reflects the sentiment of New Hampshire voters who overwhelmingly support laws that uphold our ‘Live Free or Die’ motto.”

The Women’s Defense League also criticized the governor’s veto threat saying that SB 116 would end nearly a century of ethnic, racial and gender discrimination when it came to conceal carry rights.

“Employed initially to permit discrimination against Irish and Italian foreign-born immigrants in New Hampshire, the license requirement morphed over time into one that allowed law enforcement to cloak discrimination in the glistening white garments of ‘public safety,’” said Susan Olsen.

Olsen added that they would like to meet with Hassan about the issue, despite the veto threat.

“We believe, as she demonstrated during her tenure as senator, that once she knows the facts, she makes sound decisions,” she said. “The Women’s Defense League stands ready to provide the governor with any all background information she might wish to seek.”

Political parties sound off

Both the Democratic and Republican state committees sounded off about the vote and Hassan’s veto threat.

NHDP Chairman Ray Buckley congratulated Hassan for standing with law enforcement and public safety agencies and called the bill wildly out-of-step with what residents in New Hampshire think.

“Once again, Republicans in the New Hampshire House and Senate have proven that they’re wildly out-of-step with New Hampshire, passing a radical gun bill over the opposition of law enforcement officers and 71 percent of Granite Staters,” said New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley. “We thank Governor Hassan for taking a strong stand to support law enforcement and public safety by pledging to veto this radical bill.”

Jennifer Horn of the NHGOP, however, called the bill bipartisan reform legislation and said the governor should not be making decisions about who needs to ask for permission to protect her or himself.

“Law abiding Granite Staters already have the right to carry, but need to ask permission to carry in their cars, under a jacket, or in a purse,” she said. “Too often, local officials deny or delay permits for no good reason, denying people the basic right to self-defense. This commonsense, bipartisan legislation would address this issue and only apply to New Hampshire residents who already have the right to own or possess firearms. It would not change laws prohibiting criminals from carrying firearms.”