HB 1605-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2012 SESSION
08/04
HOUSE BILL 1605-FN
AN ACT relative to checking firearms at courthouse entrances.
SPONSORS: Rep. Kreis, Merr 6; Rep. Swinford, Belk 5; Rep. Welch, Rock 8; Rep. Gagne, Hills 13
This bill requires the posting of notice prohibiting firearms in courthouses.
This bill also requires the court to make available space to check 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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
12-2365
08/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
AN ACT relative to checking firearms at courthouse entrances.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Courthouse Security; Checking of Firearms. Amend RSA 159:19, II to read as follows:
II. [Firearms may be secured at the entrance to a courthouse by courthouse security personnel.]
(a) Notice containing all of the provisions of RSA 159:19 shall be posted conspicuously at each public entrance to the courthouse.
(b) Each court shall make available at or within the building containing a courtroom or area used by a court by January 1, 2013, lockers or similar facilities at no cost for the temporary checking of firearms or weapons by persons carrying such firearms or weapons. No person requesting to check firearms or weapons shall be subject to any questioning, detainment, background check, required to complete any forms or paperwork, or required to show identification of any kind for such checking of firearms or weapons. No one other than the person checking firearms or weapons shall handle or touch said firearms or weapons. Firearms shall not be required to be unloaded unless the facility has a station for the safe unloading and loading of firearms. Individual locker keys or receipts shall be given to the person checking in firearms or weapons.
(c) A court shall be in full compliance with subparagraph (b) for the provisions of paragraph I to be enforceable.
(d) Property left unclaimed at a court for over 30 days shall be subject to forfeiture by the state pursuant to RSA 617.
2 Affirmative Defense; Courthouse Security. Amend RSA 159:19, V to read as follows:
V. It shall be an affirmative defense to any prosecution under paragraph I that there was no notice containing all of the provisions of [paragraph I] RSA 159:19 posted in a conspicuous place at each public entrance to the court building.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
12-2365
12/15/11
HB 1605-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to checking firearms at courthouse entrances.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Legislative Budget Assistant has determined that this legislation has a total fiscal impact of less than $10,000 in each of the fiscal years 2012 through 2016.