Firearms Talk banner

Vacation In NH - Some Questions.

4K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  RayB 
#1 · (Edited)
So I was born and raised in NH (specifically the towns of Belmont and Canterbury in Belknap County), but was never introduced to firearms until I moved to FL for college. I am going to be visiting NH for Thanksgiving and wanted to just make sure my understanding of NH firearms law is current.

(I am now a resident of FL and I have my CWP/CWL, which is recognized/reciprocated by NH.)

These are things i currently believe to be true about NHs Firearm Laws. feel free to correct me.

Open Carry is legal without a permit

Concealed Carry (for me) is legal with my FL resident permit

You cannot concealed carry in a car without a CWP/CWL

You cannot open carry in/on school property

You can concealed carry on school property with a CWP/CWL

The only place restricted by the STATE from concealed carrying is a courthouse, but obviously all federally restricted places are still off limits, such as post offices, and any other federal buildings.

I believe this is the most updated statute on firearms law regarding pistols and such.

--UPDATE--

I re-read 159:4 Carrying Without License and now see it only specifies carrying a LOADED pistol in a vehicle, or concealed.

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/xii/159/159-mrg.htm
 
See less See more
#3 ·
You can NOT carry on school property in NH
http://nebula.wsimg.com/abd34715203...F2874A2D4F25F072A&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

of Federal Regulations says no guns are allowed, and you’ll find notices posted on the door
threatening you with arrest.
Note: a recent (2012)
federal court case confirms that "federal
facilities" can mean
not just buildings, but in many cases
any
federal property, such as post
office parking lots.
Federal law defines federal facilities as places where
federal activities occur,
and in the recent court case, it was noted that
mail trucks used a parking lot o
wned by the postal
service.
(2) Title 18, United State Code, Section 922, subsection (q) is the Gun Free School Zones Act.
You can’t have a gun in, on the grounds of
(actually, on the
property
of, and that includes school
buses
)
, or within 1,000 feet of the property line of, an elementary or secondary school, whether
public or private. (Note that this doesn’t include colleges or universities.)
18 USC 922 (q) includes exemptions for private property (i.e., you’re OK if your house is next to
a school), for police officers on duty, for school
-
approved programs, and for
unloaded guns in
locked containers or locked gun racks. There’s also an exemption for people holding carry
licenses
from the state in which the school zone is located, but only if state law
requires
that
“before an individual obtains such a license, the la
w enforcement authorities of the State or
political subdivision verify that the individual is qualified under law to receive the license.”
Unfortunately, New Hampshire state law (RSA 159:6) arguably does NOT make the cut, in part
because town selectmen and
city mayors can issue carry licenses, and they’re not “law
enforcement authorities,” and also because that RSA doesn't
require
law enforcement authorities
to do
anything
.
But even if your carry license was issued by a police chief, it may not protect
you
, because our state law doesn’t meet the requirements of the federal law.
This federal “Gun Free School Zones Act” is unpopular, and some people prefer to believe that
New Hampshire’s carry licenses provide an exemption, despite the above analysis.** Furt
her,
nobody in New Hampshire has been arrested or prosecuted on the basis of this federal law. Still,
you have to ask yourself if you want to be the test case.
Note also that a carry license from state
"A" doesn't provide the school zone exemption in stat
e "B."
**
In 2006, I asked then
-
NH
-
Congressman Jeb Bradley to ask the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) for
their reading on whether our NH License to Carry law,
RSA 159:6, qualified to exempt
license holders from the
federal Gun F
ree School Zones Act.
The
then
-
Director of the ATF, Carl Truscott,
wrote back on April 17 of that year

I have a PDF
copy of his letter

and said that RSA 159:6 "would generally qualify as an exception."
(He
didn't explain what he meant by "generally.
")
Will the current ATF director be smarter than
that?
Who knows?
(Note that it’s been pointed out that it’s impossible to drive through many cities in the United
States without violating this law, because you’re always close to some school.
Fortunatel
y, the
law is rarely, if ever, enforced against people just driving through.)
So, to summarize: state law prohibits you from carrying in courtrooms and courthouses; federal
law, though controversial, will have you arrested and prosecuted for carrying in f
ederal buildings
(including post offices) and
in or (technically, at least) near elementary or secondary schools.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top