HB 1566 - AS INTRODUCED

2018 SESSION

18-2186

04/08

HOUSE BILL 1566

AN ACT prohibiting open carry of a firearm in certain public places.

SPONSORS: Rep. Burridge, Ches. 16

COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety

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ANALYSIS

This bill prohibits the open carrying of a firearm in certain public places.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

18-2186

04/08

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eighteen

AN ACT prohibiting open carry of a firearm in certain public places.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Subdivision; Firearms in Public Places. Amend RSA 159 by inserting after section 26 the following new subdivision:

Firearms Prohibited in Certain Public Places

159:27 Firearms Prohibited in Certain Public Places.

I. No person shall knowingly and openly carry a loaded or unloaded pistol, revolver, firearm, or other deadly weapon as defined in RSA 625:11, V, whether licensed or unlicensed, upon the person or within any of the person's possessions owned or within the person's control in the following places:

(a) A place where medical services are provided. For the purposes of this section "medical services" means any service, supply, or drug intended for the maintenance care of, or preventive care for, the human body or the care or treatment of an illness or dysfunction of, or injury to, the human body. "Medical services'' includes, but is not limited to, physician care, inpatient care, hospital surgical services, emergency services, ambulance services, laboratory services, pharmaceutical supplies, prescription drugs, and medical equipment and supplies.

(b) Any place holding a valid liquor license under RSA 178 where liquor is sold or consumed.

(d) Houses of public worship, parish houses, church parsonages occupied by their pastors, convents, monasteries, buildings and the lands appurtenant to them which are owned, used, or occupied directly for religious training or for other religious purposes by any regularly recognized and constituted denomination, creed, or sect, organized, incorporated, or legally doing business in this state and the personal property used by them for the purposes for which they are established.

(e) Any entertainment venue which seats more than 5,000 people.

(f) Any public building. In this subparagraph, "public building" means any building, structure, or place owned or operated by the state or one of its political subdivisions, including the university system of New Hampshire and the community college system of New Hampshire.

II. A notice of the provisions of paragraph I may be conspicuously posted at each public entrance to a public building.

III. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a violation and fined $100 for a first offense and $500 for each subsequent offense.

2 Pistols and Revolvers; Exceptions. Amend RSA 159:5 to read as follows:

159:5 Exceptions. The provisions of RSA 159:3 and [4] RSA 159:27 shall not apply to marshals, sheriffs, policemen or other duly appointed peace and other law enforcement officers, or bailiffs and court officers responsible for court security; nor to the regular and ordinary transportation of pistols or revolvers as merchandise, nor to members of the armed services of the United States when on duty; nor to the national guard when on duty; nor to organizations by law authorized to purchase or receive such weapons; nor to duly authorized military or civil organizations when parading, or the members thereof when at, or going to or from, their customary places of assembly.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.