New Hampshire HB 1049: relative to storage requirements for firearms.

Bill Text

HB 1049-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2026 SESSION

 26-2445

 09/06

HOUSE BILL 1049-FN

AN ACT relative to storage requirements for firearms.

SPONSORS: Rep. Meuse, Rock. 37; Rep. Horrigan, Straf. 10; Rep. Seibert, Hills. 21; Rep. Selig, Straf. 10; Rep. M. Smith, Straf. 10; Sen. Altschiller, Dist 24

COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety

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ANALYSIS

 This bill requires firearms to be securely stored when not in use to prevent unauthorized access by minors. It also requires that a locking safety device accompany all private and commercial firearms transactions and expands the criminal penalties for negligent storage of firearms.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

 Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

 Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

 26-2445

 09/06

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Six

AN ACT relative to storage requirements for firearms.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 1 Purpose. The general court finds that it is in the best interests of child protection and public safety to minimize the occurrence of incidents involving negligent storage of firearms by enacting safe firearms storage requirements and corresponding penalties for violations that will reduce the risk of an unsecured weapon falling into the hands of a minor, or a prohibited party.

 2 New Section; Secure Firearm Storage. Amend RSA 159 by inserting after section 12 the following new section: 

 159:12-a Secure Firearm Storage Required. 

 I. In this section:

 (a) "Commercial sale" means a transfer of ownership of a firearm listed or made available for public sale or exchange including but not limited to, a weapon purchased or exchanged for other goods and services at a licensed firearms dealer, a gun show, or via the commercial website of a dealer. 

 (b) "Firearm" means any weapon or device designed to be used as a weapon, which will, is designed to, or may be readily converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive, explosion, or other means of combustion, or the frame or receiver of such a device, provided the term "firearm" shall not include the term "antique firearm" as defined in 18 U.S.C. section 921(a)(16), or a weapon that has been rendered permanently inoperable and is incapable of being readily restored to a firing condition.

 (c) "Personalized firearm" means a firearm that has, as part of its original manufacture, incorporated design technology that allows the firearm to be fired only by the authorized user and prevents any of the safety characteristics of the firearm from being readily deactivated by anyone other than the authorized user. The technology limiting the firearm's operational use may include, but is not limited to, fingerprint verification, magnetic encoding, radio frequency tagging, and other automatic user identification systems utilizing biometric, mechanical, or electronic systems.

 (d) "Licensed firearms dealer," "licensed dealer," or "dealer" means a person who has a valid federal firearms dealer license under 18 U.S.C. section 923(a), and all additional licenses required by state or local law to engage in the business of selling or transferring firearms. 

 (e) "Private sale” means a transfer of ownership of a firearm between two parties where neither party is a licensed firearms dealer. 

 (f) "Safety device" means a device which has been specifically designed and manufactured for the purpose of allowing the owner to temporarily disable or securely store one or more firearms and may include: 

 (1) Trigger locks, cable locks, or other devices featuring a combination lock, key, digital key, radio frequency tag, automated fingerprint identification system, biometric key, voice recognition key, electronic key, or other personalized locking mechanism capable of preventing the firearm from being discharged by a person not authorized by the owner; or 

 (2) A lockbox or storage device with a combination lock, key, digital key, radio frequency tag, automated fingerprint identification system, biometric key, voice recognition key, electronic key, or other personalized locking mechanism capable of preventing access to the firearm by a person not authorized by the owner.

 (g) "Seller" means a person offering a firearm for commercial sale, private sale, or barter. 

 II.(a) Firearms shall be securely stored when they are not in use to prevent access by unsupervised minors and other unauthorized users. A person responsibly and securely stores a firearm when: 

 (1) The person carries the firearm on his or her person or within such close proximity thereto that the person