Constitutional Carry in New Hampshire: What the Law Allows

New Hampshire Constitutional Carry

The rule in one sentence

Any adult 18 or older in New Hampshire who is not a prohibited person under state or federal law may carry a loaded pistol or revolver, openly or concealed, on or about the person or in a vehicle, without any state license or permit, per RSA 159:6, III.

Operative statute

RSA 159:6, III provides: "The availability of a license to carry a loaded pistol or revolver under this section or under any other provision of law shall not be construed to impose a prohibition on the unlicensed transport or carry of a firearm in a vehicle, or on or about one's person, whether openly or concealed, loaded or unloaded, by a resident, nonresident, or alien if that individual is not otherwise prohibited by statute from possessing a firearm in the state of New Hampshire."

That single paragraph is the whole of New Hampshire constitutional carry. It does three things at once. It confirms there is no license requirement to carry. It covers open and concealed carry, on-person and in-vehicle, loaded and unloaded. And it extends to residents, nonresidents, and aliens alike, subject only to the qualifier that the person not be otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm.

How New Hampshire got here

Before February 22, 2017, RSA 159:4 made it a crime to carry a loaded pistol or revolver concealed on the person or in a vehicle without a license issued under RSA 159:6. New Hampshire issued those licenses on a shall-issue basis under RSA 159:6, but actually carrying concealed required a license.

In 2017, the legislature passed SB 12. SB 12 repealed RSA 159:4 and added the new RSA 159:6, III quoted above. The repeal is recorded on the face of the statute: RSA 159:4 now reads "Repealed by 2017, 1:3, eff. Feb. 22, 2017." SB 12 took effect February 22, 2017. From that date forward New Hampshire has been a constitutional-carry state.

The old RSA 159:6 license framework was left in place on purpose. The legislature recognized that some carriers would still want a license for two reasons that have nothing to do with whether carry is legal inside New Hampshire:

• Federal Brady alternative. 18 U.S.C. 922(t)(3) lets a federally licensed dealer skip the national instant background check when the buyer presents a state-issued permit that allows the holder to possess or acquire a firearm and that was issued within the last 5 years after a state official verified the holder is not prohibited. The New Hampshire Pistol/Revolver License qualifies, which can let a license holder skip the point-of-sale check at the dealer counter.
• Recognition in other states. The New Hampshire State Police director is directed by RSA 159:6-d to negotiate reciprocal agreements so that other jurisdictions recognize the New Hampshire license. A license can therefore help a New Hampshire carrier who travels to a state that is not itself a constitutional-carry state.

Who qualifies for constitutional carry

Under RSA 159:6, III the carrier must be "a resident, nonresident, or alien" who is "not otherwise prohibited by statute from possessing a firearm in the state of New Hampshire." Two bodies of prohibitor law fill in that qualifier.

Federal possession prohibitions are listed in 18 U.S.C. 922(g). A person in any of these categories may not possess a firearm: a person convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison; a fugitive from justice; an unlawful user of or person addicted to a controlled substance; a person adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution; an alien who is illegally or unlawfully in the United States, or who is here on a nonimmigrant visa subject to limited exceptions; a person dishonorably discharged from the armed forces; a person who has renounced United States citizenship; a person subject to a qualifying domestic-violence restraining order; and a person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

Being under indictment is handled separately and is narrower. 18 U.S.C. 922(n), not 922(g), addresses indictment: a person under indictment for a crime punishable by more than one year may not ship, transport, or receive a firearm in interstate commerce. Section 922(n) does not bar simple possession of a firearm already lawfully held, and indictment is not one of the 922(g) categories.

The state-law prohibition on convicted-felon possession is at RSA 159:3, which makes it a class B felony for a person convicted of a qualifying felony to own, possess, or control a pistol, revolver, or other firearm or deadly weapon.

On age: under federal law a juvenile (a person under 18) generally may not possess a handgun under 18 U.S.C. 922(x)(2). New Hampshire imposes no separate state-law minimum age beyond that federal floor for purposes of constitutional carry. Note that a federally licensed dealer may not sell a handgun to a person under 21 under 18 U.S.C. 922(b)(1), so the buy-from-a-dealer age and the carry age are not the same number.

There is no New Hampshire residency requirement. RSA 159:6, III expressly extends to nonresidents and aliens lawfully present in the state.

What constitutional carry does NOT change

Constitutional carry under RSA 159:6, III did not repeal or modify any of the following:

• The prohibited-place rules. Carry remains prohibited in courtrooms and areas used by a court (RSA 159:19), in school zones (the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act, 18 U.S.C. 922(q)), in federal facilities (18 U.S.C. 930), and on aircraft and in the sterile secured area of an airport (the federal aircraft weapon statute, 49 U.S.C. 46505). RSA 159:19 is worth stating precisely: it is a class B felony to knowingly carry a loaded or unloaded pistol, revolver, firearm, or other deadly weapon, whether open or concealed and whether licensed or unlicensed, in a courtroom or area used by a court, subject to the exceptions in that statute for law enforcement and court-authorized persons.
• The use-of-force rules. RSA 627:4 still controls when force is justified. Constitutional carry does not enlarge self-defense privileges. Deadly force in defense of a person is justified only in the specific circumstances listed in RSA 627:4, II, and the duty-to-retreat and no-retreat provisions of RSA 627:4, III still apply.
• The prohibited-persons rules. A person banned from firearm possession under RSA 159:3 or 18 U.S.C. 922(g) gains nothing from constitutional carry. Their possession is still a crime.
• Private-property exclusion. A property owner or other authorized person may exclude armed persons. A person who enters or remains in a place in defiance of an order to leave or not to enter that was personally communicated to them commits criminal trespass under RSA 635:2.
• The optional license under RSA 159:6 remains available. Many New Hampshire carriers still obtain it for out-of-state recognition and federal-Brady reasons.

Open carry

Open carry has always been lawful in New Hampshire for non-prohibited adults. The 2017 change did not create open carry. It removed the license requirement for concealed carry and vehicle carry, which put concealed carry on the same footing as open carry.

Vehicle carry

Under RSA 159:6, III a loaded pistol or revolver may be carried in a vehicle without a license. The repealed RSA 159:4 had specifically reached concealed carry in a vehicle, so its repeal removed the last state-law license trigger for handgun vehicle carry. There is no general state-law statute in Chapter 159 prohibiting an ordinary non-prohibited adult from transporting a loaded long gun in a vehicle, though hunting rules and posted-area rules can still apply.

Practical scope

Constitutional carry under RSA 159:6, III is, on its face, one of the broadest in the country. It covers residents, nonresidents, and lawfully present aliens. It covers open and concealed carry. It covers on-person and in-vehicle carry. It covers loaded and unloaded firearms. Subject only to (a) federal disqualifiers, (b) state prohibited-persons rules, (c) prohibited locations, and (d) private-property exclusion, the right to carry in New Hampshire requires no license, no fee, no training, and no test.