New Hampshire Red Flag / Extreme Risk Protection Orders

The headline

New Hampshire has NO red-flag law. There is no New Hampshire Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) statute. There is no NH equivalent to the ERPO frameworks of CA, CO, MA, NY, OR, WA, or the other states with freestanding red-flag schemes.

What NH has instead

While NH does not have a freestanding ERPO, several adjacent legal mechanisms can result in firearm-surrender orders or firearm-possession prohibitions:

Domestic Violence Protective Orders - RSA 173-B

RSA 173-B (Protection of Persons from Domestic Violence) authorizes a person who has been abused by a family or household member, a current or former intimate partner, or a person with whom the victim has a child in common, to seek a civil protective order in the circuit court.

A court issuing a protective order under RSA 173-B can order relief that affects firearms, including ordering the respondent to relinquish firearms and prohibiting the respondent from acquiring or possessing firearms while the order is in effect. Protective orders can be issued on an emergency or temporary basis and then followed by a hearing on the merits where the respondent has notice and an opportunity to be heard.

A respondent who possesses a firearm in violation of a RSA 173-B order can face criminal liability for violating the protective order. Federal law adds an independent layer: 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8) prohibits firearm possession by a person subject to a qualifying protective order, but only where the order meets the federal criteria described below.

Stalking Protective Orders - RSA 633:3-a

A victim of stalking can seek a civil protective order under RSA 633:3-a, III-a by filing a petition in the district court. On a showing of stalking by a preponderance of the evidence, the court grants relief necessary to bring about a cessation of stalking. RSA 633:3-a, III-a expressly ties the available relief, procedures, burdens of proof, methods of service, enforcement, and penalties to those set forth in RSA 173-B, so a stalking order can carry the same firearm-relinquishment consequences as a domestic-violence order.

A stalking order does NOT automatically trigger the federal firearm prohibition. The federal 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8) prohibition reaches a court order only if the order restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening "an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person." A RSA 633:3-a order that protects a victim who is not an intimate partner (for example a coworker, neighbor, classmate, or stranger) does not by itself meet the 922(g)(8) intimate-partner requirement. Where the stalking victim is an intimate partner or that partner's child, and the order satisfies the federal notice-and-hearing and findings requirements, the federal prohibition can apply.

Mental Health Commitment - RSA 135-C

Involuntary mental-health commitment under RSA 135-C can trigger the federal 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(4) prohibition. That federal provision makes it unlawful for a person "who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution" to possess firearms. A person who is involuntarily committed under NH RSA 135-C falls within the federal "committed to a mental institution" category, is reported through NICS, and is prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms under federal law.

Criminal No-Contact and Bail Conditions

A criminal no-contact order or a bail condition issued under RSA 597:2 can prohibit contact with a specific person and can be paired with firearm-relinquishment conditions. Violating such a condition is a criminal matter handled in the underlying case.

What NH does NOT have

NH does NOT have:

• A freestanding "extreme risk protection order" statute that lets a family member, household member, or law enforcement officer petition a court to remove firearms from a person who poses a risk to self or others, separate from the domestic-violence and stalking frameworks.
• An emergency firearm-removal procedure based on imminent risk alone, without an underlying RSA 173-B, RSA 633:3-a, or RSA 135-C predicate.
• A mandatory reporting requirement that obligates healthcare providers to identify firearm-risk patients to law enforcement.

Legislative history

NH legislators have introduced red-flag bills in multiple sessions. None have been enacted. The state has chosen to rely on the existing protective-order framework and the federal mental-health-commitment process rather than create a freestanding ERPO.

Federal context

Federal law does not require states to enact a red-flag law. The 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (P.L. 117-159) made federal grant funding available to states that choose to implement crisis-intervention or red-flag programs, but it did not preempt state law or require any state to create such a program.

Practical implications

For a person facing a domestic-violence allegation

If a person is named as a respondent in a RSA 173-B petition, the hearing can result in a firearm-relinquishment order. Practical points:

• Take the proceeding seriously. Even an emergency or temporary order has immediate effect.
• Retain counsel promptly.
• Comply with any firearm-relinquishment order while the case is pending. Violating the order is a criminal matter.
• At the hearing, contest the underlying allegations if appropriate. The standard for a protective order under RSA 173-B is preponderance of the evidence.

For a person in a mental-health crisis

Voluntary mental-health admission generally does NOT trigger 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(4), because the federal disqualifier reaches a person "committed to a mental institution," which the established federal interpretation treats as an involuntary commitment rather than a voluntary admission. Involuntary commitment under RSA 135-C is what triggers the federal disqualification.

A person who seeks mental-health treatment voluntarily generally preserves firearms rights under this federal rule. This distinction matters for carriers who are weighing whether to seek help.

For a family member concerned about a relative

In a state with a red-flag law, a family member could petition for an ERPO. In NH, family-member options are:

• If domestic violence has occurred, file a RSA 173-B petition.
• If stalking has occurred, file a RSA 633:3-a petition.
• If the person is a danger to self or others, pursue the RSA 135-C involuntary-emergency-admission process (for example a police welfare check or an emergency room mental-health evaluation).
• Arrange voluntary safekeeping by transferring firearms to a trusted friend, family member, or licensed dealer (FFL), consistent with state and federal transfer law.

There is no statutory mechanism in NH for a family member to obtain a firearm-removal order based on risk alone, without one of the predicate situations above.

For the federal overlay

A NH carrier who is subject to a qualifying RSA 173-B order, a qualifying intimate-partner RSA 633:3-a order, or a RSA 135-C involuntary commitment can be federally prohibited under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8) or 922(g)(4). The NICS check reflects that federal prohibition. A stalking order protecting a non-intimate-partner victim can still impose firearm relinquishment under NH practice, but it does not by itself create the federal 922(g)(8) bar.

Summary

NH does not have a red-flag law. Firearm-removal orders in NH come through the domestic-violence (RSA 173-B), stalking (RSA 633:3-a), and mental-health-commitment (RSA 135-C) frameworks, each with its own procedural protections. The federal prohibited-person rules at 18 U.S.C. 922(g) overlay all of these, but the federal protective-order bar at 922(g)(8) applies only to intimate-partner orders, and the federal mental-health bar at 922(g)(4) applies to a person committed to a mental institution.