NH Republicans Vote to Allow Concealed Guns in House Chamber
Take Your Kid to Work Day may only come once a year, but starting now for New Hampshire House members, every day is Take Your Concealed Gun to Work Day.
On the first day of the 2015 legislative session, the newly Republican-led NH House voted 228 to 149 Wednesday morning to allows state representatives to carry concealed weapons in the House chamber and Legislative Office Building, according to NHPR.
The largely party line vote re-implemented a policy enacted from 2011-2012, when Republicans last held the majority in the lower house. Democrats repealed the policy in 2013, effectively banning concealed weapons inside the chamber. Republicans currently hold a 239 to 160 majority over Democrats in the NH House.
In an op-ed published Monday, minority leader Steve Shurtleff called the policy inappropriate and potentially dangerous, citing three separate incidents in which members dropped their guns on the floor during the last time gun possession was allowed.
According to NHPR’s Josh Rogers, Rep. John Burt of Goffstown defended the change as necessary for security. [fragment number=0]
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