Gov. Chris Sununu, still less than two months into office, signed legislation into law today that will allow New Hampshire’s gun owners to carry their firearm in a concealed manner without a permit.
Senate Bill 12 was signed Wednesday, Feb. 22, afternoon in Concord.
It was the first bill signed into law by the new Republican governor.
“This is about safety,” he said in a release.
“This is about making sure that the laws on our books are keeping people safe while remaining true to the Live Free or Die spirit that makes New Hampshire the great state that it is.”
The bill was sent to the governor’s office after easily clearing the general court with a 200-97 vote, and the senate along party lines, where the Republican majority pushed it to a 13-10 passage.
It is the fulfillment of one of Sununu’s top campaign promises from 2016.
“This is a commitment I made to the people of New Hampshire and I am proud today to fulfill that commitment,” he said in the release.
New Hampshire joins Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Vermont, Wyoming and West Virginia in allowing concealed, or Constitutional, carry.
Sununu called it “common sense,” because he thinks it is reaffirming the state constitution and aligns New Hampshire to neighboring Maine and Vermont.
Massachusetts has strict gun laws and does not allow concealed carry without a permit.
Last week, local police chiefs voiced concern about the law to the Ledger-Transcript, including Wilton’s Chief Brent Hautanen, who defended the previous regulation.
“I think it was a common sense law,” he said. “The current bill (which just passes) has some issues.”
Jaffrey Police Chief Bill Oswalt also said he would have liked the process to continue as it was.
Town police chiefs used to have to conduct criminal history checks to those applying for a concealed carry permit.