PA Bill Number: HB335
Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.
Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: May 1, 2024
New Maine gun law impacts NH (Constitutional Carry w-Exceptions) :: 01/25/2016
PORTSMOUTH — Maine recently eliminated its licensing requirement to carry a concealed gun, but it comes with little-known exceptions and some confusion in the reciprocal bordering state of New Hampshire.
For those, and other reasons, Second Amendment lawyer Penny Dean advises everyone who carries a concealed pistol or revolver to get a license from every state they travel to.
"Saying there's no license requirement really is untruth in advertising," said Dean, a Concord attorney. "What they passed is not Constitutional carry, because it comes with a list of conditions. I call it the whole shebang."
Stephen McCausland, public information officer for Maine State Police said simply, "Permits are no longer required to carry concealed for Maine residents, or for residents from any other state." When asked about restrictions, McCausland referred to the Maine State Police website.
The Maine law states that it "allows a person who is not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm to carry a concealed handgun in the state of Maine without a permit. This law also authorizes a person to possess a loaded pistol or revolver while in a motor vehicle, trailer or other vehicle being hauled by a motor vehicle."
Cited exceptions include that anyone carrying a concealed weapon without a license, "has a duty, when coming into contact with any law enforcement officer during a routine stop, detention or arrest, to immediately inform the law enforcement officer that the individual is carrying a concealed handgun."
Dean said that exception "puts you down the alley path that allows them to detain you and run a check on you."
"It's a way of keeping you longer and checking you more," she said.
Other exceptions to the Maine law state residents must have a license to carry concealed in all state parks and in "employees' vehicles on work premises," where the vehicles must be locked and the firearm not visible. The law applies to people over the age of 21, or members of the military over age 18.
"Firearms laws are complex," the Maine State Police advise on its website. "Persons may wish to contact qualified private counsel and or review the applicable law if they have questions regarding whether they can legally possess firearms or ammunition. This agency is not authorized to give legal advice. This summary cannot be used as a defense to illegal activity involving firearms or ammunition."
It's because the laws are complex and confusing that Dean advises gun owners to get licenses in every state where they carry.
"People inadvertently break the law," Dean said, adding she travels to Florida and has a non-resident license for that state and has been asked why, because her New Hampshire license is reciprocal to Florida. She answers by asking if the questioner wants to be stopped by the side of a road and have to explain reciprocity to a police officer and face possible arrest, criminal record, missed flight and towed vehicle, due to confusion.
"I say for $100 that's the cheapest insurance you're going to get," said Dean, who has licenses from many states.
The New Hampshire lawyer said she had a client from Massachusetts who traveled to Utah and saw on the New Hampshire State Police website that New Hampshire licenses are reciprocal to Utah. Because the client has a New Hampshire license to carry concealed, he went to Utah, had an encounter with police and learned the reciprocity is "only good for a Utah resident carrying with a Utah license in New Hampshire."
"I had to defend him," she said. "This is why I tell people all the time that you're betting your freedom and your life and your rights for life. The consequences are very dire."
In New Hampshire, residents can carry a gun openly without a license, but to carry a concealed weapon, they're required to obtain licenses through their local police departments. While Maine says its license is now reciprocal to New Hampshire, and Maine eliminated the licensing requirement, a Maine license is still required for a Maine resident to carry concealed in New Hampshire.
In the alternative, Maine residents can apply for non-resident New Hampshire licenses which, for New Hampshire, is a million-dollar business. According to New Hampshire State Police Sgt. Sean Haggerty, 10,000 non-resident conceal-carry licenses are issued by the state every year for $100 each.
Haggerty said a Maine license is now recognized in New Hampshire and it is required for Maine residents to carry concealed in New Hampshire.
"Reciprocity means reciprocity with the license," Haggerty said. “Every applicant needs a home-state license to apply for a non-resident license in New Hampshire. A person who lives in Maine without a conceal carry license can not come to New Hampshire" and carry concealed.
Haggerty said New Hampshire State Police have had people inquiring about their non-resident licenses due to the change in Maine law, some asking for refunds. The fiscal impact is expected to be minimal, he said.
"Not every person in Maine is not going to not renew their non-resident pistol license because some use it for reciprocity," he said, citing a list of states that recognize New Hampshire's license.
In July, N.H. Gov. Maggie Hassan vetoed a bill that proposed eliminating the licensing requirement for carrying concealed pistols and revolvers, saying it would reverse New Hampshire's "common sense" gun laws.
"New Hampshire's current concealed carry permitting law has worked well for nearly a century — safeguarding the Second Amendment rights of our citizens while helping to keep the Granite State one of the safest states in the nation," she was quoted. "Our concealed weapons permitting system gives an important oversight role to local law enforcement, while allowing for appeals through appropriate channels."
Attempts to eliminate the New Hampshire conceal-carry license requirement remain ongoing.
