Republican leaders in the New Hampshire House say the mass shooting at Brown University last week that killed two people underscores the need for legislation to affirm gun rights on college campuses here.
Rep. Sam Farrington of Rochester, who’s also a UNH senior, says the shootings at Brown are fresh proof that the 2nd Amendment rights of college students and staff must be affirmed.
““In New Hampshire, we cherish the 2nd Amendment pretty well, and there is no reason why a university like UNH or Plymouth State, that is funded by tax dollars, should infringe upon 2nd Amendment rights of college students,” Farrington said.
Under Farrington’s legislation, which backers are calling the “campus carry” bill, all colleges and universities in New Hampshire that receive any public money — including all grants or aid — would be barred from regulating guns or other “non-lethal” weapons on campus.
Students, or anyone else legally allowed to possess a weapon who was “aggrieved” by a college or university’s effort to limit them, could seek “relief, monetary damages, reasonable attorney fees and court costs,” with a minimum award of $10,000.
House Majority Leader Jason Osborne says passing the bill is a priority and will reduce the chances of what happened at Brown from happening at a New Hampshire college campus.
“These tragedies prove what history has shown again and again: Gun free zones create soft targets,” Osborne said.
The legislation isn’t the only GOP-backed bill lawmakers will consider in 2026 that could make it easier for people to carry firearms in places where public entities may seek to limit them.
A separate bill lawmakers will vote on next year, also sponsored by Farrington, asserts that the state Legislature “has authority and jurisdiction over the regulation of firearms, stun guns, Tasers, pepper spray devices, knives and other self-defense tools.”
That bill was inspired by a state Department of Transportation policy that limits employees from carrying guns on the job.
Since 2003, lawmakers have already had the express authority to regulate the use of firearms, firearms components, ammunition and firearms supplies in New Hampshire
In 2011 that law was updated to include “knives.”
