A bill allowing lawful gun owners in the Granite State to carry firearms on most college and university campuses will not take effect this year, even after the House of Representatives gave its stamp of approval.
On Thursday, a Senate committee amended the bill to include a provision prohibiting higher ed campuses “from enacting rules or policies restricting the possession, carry, storage, or lawful use of non-lethal weapons,” while creating a study committee to investigate the costs and public safety concerns of a true campus carry law that would cover the concealed carry of firearms.
The committee would “report its findings and any recommendations for proposed legislation to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, the house clerk, the senate clerk, the governor, and the state library on or before November 1, 2026,” but there’s no guarantee that the committee will be formed or that policies surrounding non-lethal weapons will change this year.
Any changes to the legislation in the Senate would still need House review and potential bicameral negotiation.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who has prioritized legislation aimed at boosting public safety in New Hampshire, has not weighed in directly on either version of the legislation, The Senate committee action, however, signals the original bill’s chances are slim this year.
New Hampshire’s legislative session is set to expire on June 30, which does give HB 1793 time to clear the Senate and for the House to approve the amended legislation, but “study bills” are often left in legislative limbo after the original intent has been gutted.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Sam Farrington, who himself is a student at the University of New Hampshire. Unfortunately Farrington was one of the few students to testify in favor of the bill during committee hearings.
Several police chiefs in college towns and multiple campus anti-gun activists turned out in opposition, warning that the bill would increase the risk of on-campus suicides or incidents involving drunk and armed students.
Campus carry is already in place in nearly a dozen states, and neither of those fears have come to pass where students, faculty, and visitors can carry in accordance with state law. That shouldn’t come as a surprise; after all, these same individuals are already carrying off-campus without issue, so why would we expect their behavior to change when they set foot on a college or university campus?
Louisiana was the only other state to consider a campus carry bill this session, and that piece of legislation was pulled by the sponsor last month. Rep. Danny McCormick told reporters that students who planned to testify in support instead backed out, though he remained open to filing the same legislation next session if he could get students in favor of the bill to come to the statehouse and go on the record.
Even after McCormick’s legislation stalled out, I had hopes that Farrington would have more luck with his bill. The New Hampshire House approved the bill on a 188-165 vote, and the Senate Judiciary committee’s move to shunt the measure off to a study committee was somewhat surprising to me… and to at least one opponent as well.
Sen. Debra Altschiller, a Democrat from Stratham who sits on the Senate committee, said during the meeting that it makes no sense to study it further, given the outpouring of opposition.
“Nobody asked for us to do a study committee because they thought that looking into the possibility of putting firearms on college campuses outside of the scope of law enforcement was an idea worth looking into,” Altschiller said. “We heard over and over and over again that, hands down, this was just a bad idea and that we should not be entertaining it.”
I hate to say it, but she does have a point. If the hearings on HB 1793 had been packed with supporters of campus carry, I don’t think we’d be talking about a study committee today. Instead, the bill would likely be heading to the Senate floor right now.
My hope is that Second Amendment groups in New Hampshire can work to raise awareness of this measure ahead of next year’s session, and that Farrington will be able to enlist the support of conservative clubs and organizations in every one of the state’s colleges and universities as well. If they can drown out the voices in opposition when the bill gets its first hearing next year, that will do wonders for the chances of passage in 2027.
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