A bill to bar state colleges and universities from curbing gun rights on their campuses drew a crowd to Concord Tuesday. Most came to fight the bill, including the president of University of New Hampshire, students from several state colleges, and multiple members of law enforcement.
“We are stunned we are even here today talking about this,” Durham Deputy Police Chief Jack Dalton said at a small rally before the bill’s state Senate hearing. “Hopefully common sense prevails, so we can move on in Durham.”
Under the bill, anyone who is legally allowed to carry a weapon could do so on a college campus in the state, without limit. The proposal is similar but more sweeping than laws already on the books in about a dozen states. Its backers say the bill, which cleared the New Hampshire House along party lines in February, will make campuses safer while honoring fundamental rights.
“We want senators to understand, they took an oath to defend the Constitution,” said Rep. Sam Farrington of Rochester, the bill’s lead sponsor and a current UNH student. “College students are adults and deserving of all their rights.”
The bill would block any college or university that accepts taxpayer funding of any kind from regulating firearms, as well as non-lethal weapons like pepper spray, stun guns or tasers. Right now, UNH students are allowed to keep guns for hunting or target shooting but must store them at the local police department. This bill would allow students to store weapons in their dorm rooms.
According to several people who showed up for the hearing who manage college dormitories, the atmosphere there is already volatile enough.
“A lot of our incidents revolve around alcohol,” said Hans Hendricks, who has been a UNH resident hall director for three years. “We see it every single week, and truly I cannot say it enough: We don’t need guns added to the mix.”
That message was echoed by top college administrators, who stressed that this bill goes farther than similar policies in effect in other states.
This would make New Hampshire unique, said UNH president Elizabeth Chilton: “It would be the most liberal or the most conservative, depending on the way that you look at it.”
According to Farrington, that was by design: “This would be the best campus carry statute in the entire nation,” he told lawmakers.
Read more: ‘Campus carry’ bill has NH college students divided: Do guns mean freedom or fear?
But the proposal’s breadth appeared to be a sticking point with several senators.
“I am a big gun person, but I do have concerns,” Republican Sen. Bill Gannon of Sandown said, noting that even U.S. military academies bar cadets from keeping guns. “I am scared that institutions that really know weapons have chosen not to have it in their dorms.”
Republican. Sen Daryl Abbas, meanwhile, pushed Farrington about whether his bill should include provisions to allow colleges and universities to punish students from carrying weapons while drunk.
“It seems to me pretty much a no-brainer,” Abbas said after Farrington at first seemed to oppose the idea.
“I would support an amendment, so long as it was carefully written, that allows the school to regulate that,” Farrington said.
Winning favor with the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is expected to vote on it later this month, will be this bill’s first test. Republicans hold a 16-8 Senate majority, and this bill has four Senate co-sponsors.
But Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who has prioritized policies she says promote public safety, has yet to take a position on the bill.
Read more: Students ask governor and lawmakers to make NH more affordable so they can stay
Tuesday’s hearing attracted several dozen students to the State House plaza who held signs protesting the proposed bill.
Emily Hunt, a student at the University of New Hampshire, said she felt safe on campus but was worried that making it easier for people to carry guns would change that dynamic.
“I spent all of my education, K through 12, being afraid of a school shooting, both for myself and for my loved ones,” Hunt said. “And I don't want that at college.”
Eli Orne, a UNH freshman, said he was concerned that more guns on campus could lead to more suicides as it would be easier for students in crisis to get their hands on a deadly weapon.
“Because when you have access to a gun in any capacity — it doesn't have to be yours, it could just be around — your risk of dying by suicide increases,” he said.
Elena Eberwein contributed to this report.
