A New Hampshire statehouse showdown resulted in the passing of a bill that repealed the need for a permit or license to carry a concealed handgun.
The state’s Representatives voted 200-97 in favor of the repeal on February 9, which supporters hail as a major Second Amendment victory. While the vote was pretty overwhelmingly in favor of the repeal, it happens that a large number of representatives were not at the statehouse that day and did not vote due to a powerful snow storm that hit the area. It’s hard to say if the vote had been taken with everyone in attendance if it would have passed by a wider or narrower margin. Regardless, it did pass and overwhelmingly so.
The Senate voted 13-10 last month to move SB12 through. New Hampshire’s Republican governor, Chris Sununu, has said that he will sign the bill into law. After the Senate voted to pass the law last month, he issued a statement in support o the effort. He said it was a “common sense legislation in support of a citizen’s fundamental right to carry a firearm.”
The state’s previous democratic governor vetoed similar bills in 2006 and 2011. Without the need for a permit, opponents believe that people who should not be carrying for a variety of reasons, will carry. This is believed to lead to an unsafe environment. A retired deputy marshal who is not the State Democratic Leader, Steve Shurtleff, said that the new law will allow “individuals who should not be carrying a concealed weapon such as those suffering from dementia and alcoholism will be permitted to carry a concealed weapon.”
