guns

The Dallas Police department has suspended its use of a pistol made by New Hampshire-based Sig Sauer, the latest bit of controversy to visit the local gun-maker.

Newington-based gun manufacturer Sig Sauer is being sued by the State of New Jersey over claims it breached a contract with their State Police.

  New Hampshire saw a surge in the demand for gun sale background checks in 2016.

State police report administering 59,592 gun sale background checks last year. That marks a 19 percent increase from the 50,034 background checks the department conducted in 2015.

State police conducted 42,650 background checks in 2014.

In New Hampshire, all gun sale background checks are administered by the State Police.

Sgt. Michael McQuade says of the 59,592 background checks last year, 591 led to a denial of sale.

A bill doing away with the permit requirement for carrying a concealed firearm is headed to Governor Chris Sununu’s desk after the House voted in favor of it Thursday. 

Plenty of lawmakers didn’t make it to through the snow to the State House Thursday, but the House still managed to pass a bill to repeal New Hampshire’s concealed carry law.

Speaking just before the roll call, Representative John Burt urged the House to vote as it had before.

A proposal to require firearm safety training for New Hampshire lawmakers wishing to carry guns on the House floor has been defeated.

Democratic Minority Leader Steve Shurtleff proposed the rule Thursday after a representative dropped her loaded gun during a committee hearing this month.

House rules say lawmakers with the proper license can carry hidden guns in the House chamber. The new rule would have required them to take a speaker-approved gun safety course before being allowed to carry concealed weapons.

New Hampshire lawmakers heard hours of testimony Thursday on a bill that would require background checks for commercial firearm sales.

Representative Katherine Rogers,the main sponsor on the bill, says it’s designed to fill perceived loopholes in New Hampshire gun regulations.

"The current system’s loophole is exploited by criminals," Rogers says, "who can avoid background checks by purchasing firearms from unlicensed private sellers, often at gun shows, or through anonymous online transactions."

The New Hampshire Senate has voted on party lines to allow people to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. With Republicans leaders and Governor Chris Sununu favoring the bill, it’s expected to become law.

Similar bills have cleared the GOP-controlled legislatures in the past but have been vetoed by Democratic governors. With Governor Sununu promising to sign this bill, Republicans are moving fast. Senate majority leader Jeb Bradley is the bill's lead sponsor.

  Police in Somersworth, New Hampshire, say an 11-year-old brought a loaded gun to school.

Police say there's no evidence the gun was used or was intended to be used in any threatening manner at Somersworth Middle School on Wednesday.

It's not clear where the student got the firearm from. No one was hurt.

The Somersworth Police Department's juvenile division was handling the investigation.

A state representative faced a strong rebuke from the Speaker of the House after she dropped her loaded handgun while entering a House Education Committee hearing Thursday.

Milford Republican Carolyn Halstead apologized for the incident, in which her gun fell to the floor, but did not fire. She says it came loose from her waistband while she removed her backpack.

Attorney General Joseph Foster says New Hampshire will start reporting certain individuals suffering from mental illness to the national gun background check system.

Federal law prohibits the possession of firearms by people who have been "adjudicated as a mental defective" or committed to a hospital. But New Hampshire is one of a few states that doesn't report these records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

New Hampshire gun manufacturer Sig Sauer lost an appeal in a US Appeals Court this week. The dispute was over the classification of a “silencer" device.

As the U.S. Senate debates measures to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, New Hampshire's Senator Kelly Ayotte is throwing her support to a proposal drafted by Maine Senator Susan Collins.

The plan would bar people on the TSA's no-fly and selected lists from buying guns. It also creates an appeals process where people wrongly blocked from buying gun could recover legal fees from the federal government.

A ruling by the New Hampshire Supreme Court could make it easier for out-of-state gun owners to obtain concealed-carry licenses.

The court on Thursday sided with a New Jersey man who argued that the New Hampshire Department of Safety overstepped its authority in 2013 when it enacted new rules for nonresidents applying for concealed-carry permits. Under those rules, applicants must supply proof that they have such licenses in their home states.

Governor Maggie Hassan says last week's shooting of two Manchester police officers by a suspect who with mental health problems illustrates the need for New Hampshire to do a better job of keeping guns away from people who shouldn't have them.

"I think this issue needs to be looked at by a broad coalition of stakeholders and that is certainly one of the questions that they should address. I think we should work together to take steps forward to improve public safety and public heath of New Hampshire," Hassan said.

House lawmakers have voted 217-132 to require local officials to issue conceal weapons permits to person not barred from owning a gun.

The mostly party line vote came after the GOP-controlled house overturned a committee recommendation to kill the bill.

Seabrook Republican Max Abramson told colleagues this bill was about making sure a constitutional right is unabridged.

"Senate bill 336 would simply restore the right of law abiding gun owners, who have the lawful right to open carry, to simply put on their jacket."

Officials say 11,000 New Hampshire state employees will begin mandatory training on active shooter situations next month.

The Concord Monitor reports Gov. Maggie Hassan's office developed the course in conjunction with the New Hampshire Department of Safety following the San Bernardino, California, mass shooting that killed 14 people earlier this month.

The two-hour class will teach employees what to do if an active shooter ever entered a state building. It's based on a national model that also stresses the warning signs of suspicious activity.

NHPR's Senior Political Reporter Josh Rogers joins Morning Edition most Monday mornings for "On The Political Front."