New Hampshire paradox: Weak gun laws, low violence rate

Jul. 29—National rankings indicate New Hampshire has some of the weakest gun laws in the nation, and yet the state also maintains a low rate of firearm violence.

This provides an argument gun-rights advocates frequently use to oppose regulation attempts, but gun-control supporters say the state may be benefitting from firearm restrictions in nearby states and that violence statistics are open to interpretation.

N.H. Senate President Chuck Morse, R-Salem, told The Sentinel's editorial board last week gun violence doesn't lie in the weapon but in the person wielding it.

"I don't believe it's a gun problem because look at New Hampshire. We have more guns than probably any other state per capita," said Morse, who is running for U.S. Senate. "We have open carry, we passed constitutional carry, and we're one of the safest states in the nation."

The average proportion of adults living in a home with a firearm between 2007 and 2016 in New Hampshire was 39 percent, compared to about 30 percent nationally, according to a Rand Corp. study.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that, in 2020, the state's firearm death rate was ninth-best in the country, at 8.9 per 100,000 people, mostly by suicide.

But New Hampshire also has the 23rd-highest rate of gun suicides and gun-suicide attempts in the U.S., according to the CDC.

The Giffords Law Center, an organization with offices in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco that works to prevent gun violence, gives New Hampshire an "F" for the strength of its gun regulations.

One of the organization's recommendations is that the state adopt a law allowing courts to issue protection orders to help prevent people in crisis, such as those contemplating suicide, from accessing guns.

N.H. Rep. David Meuse, D-Portsmouth, who backed gun-safety legislation that didn't advance this past session, disputes the notion that New Hampshire's gun-violence statistics argue against more gun regulations.

"What I would say is, you know, take a look at the top 10 stories in the Union Leader on most days, and most of them are stories around gun violence in New Hampshire," Meuse said.

He also said that accidental shootings or gun incidents involving children or that are part of a suicide attempt often go unreported.

There's no question gun safety can be improved in the state through better regulations, Meuse said.

"One of the things that people don't understand is that the vast majority of those in favor of laws like background checks, waiting periods for gun purchases and school safety zones, it's not because we want to take anybody's guns away, it's because we want better safety," he said.

As a Boy Scout in the 1960s, Meuse had a National Rifle Association instructor certify his completion of requirements for a marksmanship merit badge.

"All of the focus back then was really on gun safety," he said. "Now we've kind of hit this stage where the point doesn't seem to be about safety, it just seems to be about possessing the most powerful weapon you can buy."

The key is not to wait until there is a school shooting in New Hampshire before adopting common-sense gun regulations, he said, adding photographs of the faces of children who have died in school shootings can be haunting.

"Like any parent, when I see those faces, it's hard not to think of the face of your own child."

Everytown, a nonprofit that researches firearms policy and advocates for gun safety, gives New Hampshire a gun-law-strength ranking of No. 42 nationally, placing it among a dozen states it calls "national failures" for lacking sufficient regulations.

Other Northeastern states have much higher rankings, such as New York, No. 3; Massachusetts, No. 4; Connecticut, No. 5; New Jersey, No. 8; Rhode Island, No. 12; Pennsylvania, No. 15; Vermont, No. 22, and Maine, No. 26.

"The Granite State's weak laws are an outlier in its region — each of the other northeastern states has a much stronger system," the group said in an online analysis. "The robust laws in New England provide a partial explanation for New Hampshire's low gun violence rate relative to its weak gun policies, as the state is protected by its neighbors."

New York-based Everytown ranked the states based on 50 metrics, including whether permits are required to carry a concealed, loaded firearm.

In 2017, the first bill Chris Sununu signed after becoming governor was to end this permit requirement, making New Hampshire a so-called "constitutional carry" state.

In June, he signed into law House Bill 1178 to prohibit the state from enforcing federal regulations on guns, including presidential executive orders.

"New Hampshire has a proud tradition of responsible firearms stewardship, and I've long said that I'm not looking to make any changes to our laws," Sununu said in a written statement at the time. "This bill will ensure that New Hampshire's law enforcement efforts will be on our own State firearms laws — and that's where I believe their focus should be."

Some law enforcement officials say the legislation could hinder police.

"That law is not going to be helpful to law enforcement at all," Keene Police Chief Steven Russo said in phone interview Friday. "There are certain circumstances when we confiscate weapons based on a federal law."

Some convictions for domestic violence can result in a loss of gun privileges under federal law, but not state law, he said.

Also, New Hampshire has no state law prohibiting non-students from having firearms in a school zone, but there is a federal law that allows authorities to act quickly if someone brings a gun to a school.

Unlike many other states, New Hampshire statutes allow people to carry guns into bars, city halls and the Statehouse.

There have even been incidents when legislators have accidentally dropped loaded guns in the Capitol.

Meuse said that if there were ever an active-shooter situation in crowded Representatives Hall, he wouldn't feel any safer knowing that some of his fellow lawmakers are armed.

"The last thing that I would want are some of these legislators who envision themselves as good guys with a gun squeezing off rounds in any direction," he said. "There's a reason why virtually every other state in the nation has a law that basically prohibits firearms in the Statehouse except by law enforcement personnel."

Still, much of the Republican-controlled state Legislature continues to support gun rights. Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Windham, for instance, is a staunch opponent of gun-control measures.

"The present administration in Washington regards the Second Amendment as a pesky nuisance that it would repeal in a heartbeat if it had the power to do so," Lynn said during debate on HB 1178.

In June, President Biden signed bipartisan legislation to expand background checks for gun buyers under 21 and provide funding for state mental health programs, drug courts and for red flag laws allowing temporary confiscation of guns from people found by a judge to be dangerous.

Biden also has called for cracking down on unmarked "ghost" guns that are sold as kits and can't be traced. He also called for universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons with high-capacity magazines, saying, "You think the deer are wearing Kevlar vests?"

Sununu signed a bill this year allowing semi-automatic rifles to be used for hunting as long as their magazines are limited to six rounds.

Rick Green can be reached at RGreen@KeeneSentinel.com or 603-355-8567