New Hampshire imposes very few state-level restrictions on firearms beyond the prohibited-person rules at RSA 159:3 (felon ban) and the federal floor of 18...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
New Hampshire imposes very few state-level restrictions on firearms beyond the prohibited-person rules at RSA 159:3 (felon ban) and the federal floor of 18 U.S.C. 922(g) (federal prohibited persons). There is no NH assault-weapons ban, no NH magazine-capacity limit, no NH universal background check, no NH waiting period, no NH permit-to-purchase, no NH firearm registration, no NH red-flag law, and no NH state-imposed limit on the number of firearms a person may own.
This section covers the actual NH-specific restrictions that do exist, along with the federal rules that apply in New Hampshire the same as everywhere else.
RSA 159:3 (Convicted Felons) makes it a class B felony to own, possess, or control a pistol, revolver, other firearm, or other deadly weapon as defined in RSA 625:11, V if the person has been convicted of a felony against the person or property of another, a felony under RSA 318-B (controlled drugs), or an equivalent felony in another jurisdiction. The same statute makes it a separate class B felony for such a convicted felon to complete and sign a firearm purchase application.
RSA 159:3 also directs the state to confiscate the weapon or weapons of a person convicted under the section. The statute provides an affirmative defense where the out-of-state felony would not have been a felony in New Hampshire when committed. The state-law ban runs parallel to the federal 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) ban, but uses New Hampshire's own list of qualifying offenses.
The text of RSA 159:3 does not contain a mandatory-minimum sentence for second or subsequent offenses. It sets the offense as a class B felony.
Restoration of NH firearm rights generally requires a pardon from the Governor and Executive Council under RSA 4:21, or a set-aside of the underlying conviction. Restoration of federal rights requires a separate process under 18 U.S.C. 925(c), the federal relief-from-disabilities provision, which has long been unfunded by Congress as to individual applicants, leaving most federal restoration unavailable in practice.
18 U.S.C. 922(g) prohibits firearm possession by:
These apply in New Hampshire the same as elsewhere.
Being under indictment is not part of 922(g). A separate provision, 18 U.S.C. 922(n), makes it unlawful for a person under indictment for a crime punishable by more than one year to ship, transport, or receive a firearm. A person already under indictment may generally keep firearms already possessed, but may not acquire new ones until the charge is resolved.
Federal 18 U.S.C. 922(x) prohibits a person under 18 from possessing a handgun, with exceptions for supervised use in target practice, hunting, and similar contexts. New Hampshire does not impose a lower minimum age.
RSA 639:3 (Endangering Welfare of Child or Incompetent) makes it an offense to knowingly endanger the welfare of a child under 18 by purposely violating a duty of care, protection, or support, or by inducing the child to engage in conduct that endangers the child's health or safety. Giving a child unsupervised access to a firearm could fall within this general duty-of-care language depending on the facts. Most violations of RSA 639:3 are misdemeanors.
18 U.S.C. 922(b)(1) sets the minimum age to purchase a handgun from a federally licensed dealer (FFL) at 21. Long guns (rifles and shotguns) may be purchased from an FFL at 18. New Hampshire does not impose a higher age.
RSA 159:14 is an exemption, not a prohibition. It provides that nothing in the pistols-and-revolvers chapter prohibits an individual who is not licensed and not in the business of selling pistols or revolvers from selling a pistol or revolver to a person licensed under the chapter or to a person personally known to the seller. This is the statutory basis for lawful private handgun sales in New Hampshire.
Private sellers must still respect the rules that apply regardless of licensure. Federal law independently prohibits any person from transferring a firearm to someone they know or have reasonable cause to believe is a prohibited person under 18 U.S.C. 922(d). The NH felon-in-possession statute, RSA 159:3, separately makes possession by a convicted felon a class B felony. So a private seller cannot lawfully sell to a known felon even though RSA 159:14 permits private sales generally.
RSA 159:13 (Changing Marks) makes it a misdemeanor to change, alter, remove, or obliterate the maker's name, model, manufacturer's number, or other identification mark on any pistol or revolver. Possession of a pistol or revolver with an altered or removed mark is presumptive evidence that the possessor altered it. This is a serial-number tampering offense. It is not a recordkeeping rule for dealers.
RSA 159:19 (Courthouse Security) makes it a class B felony to knowingly carry a loaded or unloaded pistol, revolver, firearm, or other deadly weapon as defined in RSA 625:11, V, whether open or concealed and whether licensed or unlicensed, in a courtroom or area used by a court. The statute defines "area used by a court" to cover the relevant building or court facilities, allows firearms to be secured at the entrance by courthouse security, and exempts law enforcement officers, bailiffs, court security officers, and persons with prior court authorization. It is an affirmative defense that no notice of the prohibition was posted at each public entrance.
NFA items (machine guns, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, suppressors, and "any other weapon," all defined in 26 U.S.C. 5845) are governed by the National Firearms Act and ATF regulations. New Hampshire does not prohibit lawfully registered NFA items.
Each NFA firearm must be registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record under 26 U.S.C. 5841. The federal tax is set by 26 U.S.C. 5811 (transfer tax) and 26 U.S.C. 5821 (making tax). As amended by Pub. L. 119-21 in 2025, both taxes are $200 for each machinegun or destructive device and $0 for any other NFA firearm. That amendment applies to calendar quarters beginning more than 90 days after July 4, 2025. Before then, the long-standing $200 stamp applied to most NFA transfers and makings.
Federal law, not state law, governs firearms at airport security checkpoints and on aircraft. 49 U.S.C. 46505 makes it a federal crime, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, to have a concealed dangerous weapon accessible in flight when boarding or attempting to board an aircraft, or to place a loaded firearm on an aircraft in a way accessible to passengers. The law exempts authorized law enforcement officers and permits transporting an unloaded firearm in checked baggage not accessible in flight when the air carrier has been informed. Carrying into a TSA secured area, even a license holder, can trigger this statute.
18 U.S.C. 1715 makes pistols, revolvers, and other firearms capable of being concealed on the person nonmailable through the US Postal Service, with narrow exceptions for certain officials and for licensed manufacturers and dealers in customary trade shipments. The statute reaches concealable handguns. It does not make long guns nonmailable. Knowingly mailing a nonmailable handgun is punishable by a fine or up to two years in prison.
Pawnbrokers and second-hand dealers in New Hampshire operate under the commercial licensing and recordkeeping rules of RSA 398-A. Federal law treats a pawnbroker who takes firearms as collateral as a dealer under 26 U.S.C. 5845(k), so federal dealer recordkeeping applies as well. These are commercial-licensee obligations, not requirements imposed on private parties. (Note: RSA 159:13 is the serial-number tampering statute described above, not a pawnbroker provision.)
New Hampshire Fish and Game rules under RSA Title XVIII impose context-specific restrictions during hunting:
These are hunting-context rules, not general public-safety rules.
New Hampshire has no separate "brandishing" statute. Depending on the facts, display of a firearm could constitute:
But RSA 627:4, II-a creates a safe harbor: a person who responds to a threat that a reasonable person would consider likely to cause serious bodily injury or death by displaying a firearm or other means of self-defense, with intent to warn away the person making the threat, has not committed a criminal act.
RSA 627:7 (Use of Force in Defense of Premises) is a single paragraph. It allows non-deadly force to prevent or terminate a criminal trespass, but allows deadly force in defense of premises only in defense of a person as prescribed in RSA 627:4 or when the person reasonably believes it necessary to prevent an attempt by the trespasser to commit arson. It does not authorize deadly force merely to stop a burglary, robbery, or theft of property, and it contains no request-to-desist condition. Deadly force in defense of a person is governed separately by RSA 627:4, which addresses imminent deadly force, burglary, kidnapping, forcible sex offenses, and felonies within the dwelling or curtilage.
New Hampshire does not impose a separate state license on manufacturing or dealing firearms beyond federal ATF licensure. A federally licensed dealer or manufacturer in New Hampshire operates under federal authority and ordinary business licensing.
Under RSA 159:26, the state has preempted local regulation of the sale, purchase, ownership, use, possession, transportation, licensing, permitting, and taxation of firearms, firearm components, ammunition, and firearms supplies. Any conflicting municipal ordinance is null and void. RSA 159:26 does preserve a political subdivision's right to adopt zoning ordinances for firearms or knives businesses in the same manner as other businesses. So while a town cannot regulate firearms generally, it can apply neutral business-zoning rules to a gun shop the same way it would to any other business.
New Hampshire is one of the most permissive firearm-law states in the country. Beyond the prohibited-person rules at RSA 159:3 (state) and 18 U.S.C. 922(g) (federal), there are very few state-imposed restrictions. The state does not ban semi-automatic rifles, does not limit magazine capacity, does not require universal background checks, and does not register firearms. The restrictions that do bite are mostly federal (NFA items, airport security, mailing handguns, prohibited persons) plus a handful of NH criminal statutes covering courthouses (RSA 159:19), serial-number tampering (RSA 159:13), and threatening or disorderly display (RSA 631:4 and RSA 644:2).
This page covers one part of our New Hampshire concealed carry guide.
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