A new law signed by Gov. Chris Sununu will allow people to carry a loaded pistol or revolver while operating a snowmobile or ATV.
The measure was championed by 2nd Amendment advocates as a way to ensure that gun rights extend to operators of off-road vehicles.
Sununu vetoed a similar bill last year because that proposal also included a provision that would have eliminated the state's gun background check system. In that veto message, Sununu said forcing local gun buyers and sellers to rely on the federal background check system — known as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS — would undermine New Hampshire's sovereignty.
Questions of state independence are also at the core of a more sweeping gunbill now headed to Sununu's desk, which would ban New Hampshire from enforcing any federal gun limit not mirrored in state statute. The bill has strong support among Republican lawmakers, but Sununu has yet to take a public position on it.
