SB 469 - AS INTRODUCED

2020 SESSION

20-2768

04/08

SENATE BILL 469

AN ACT relative to shooting ranges.

SPONSORS: Sen. Dietsch, Dist 9; Sen. Kahn, Dist 10

COMMITTEE: Judiciary

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ANALYSIS

This bill repeals and reenacts the statute governing shooting ranges and subjects an owner or operator of a shooting range to civil and criminal liability for violation of noise ordinances or damage to persons or property caused by the operation of a shooting range.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

20-2768

04/08

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty

AN ACT relative to shooting ranges.

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

1 Shooting Ranges. RSA 159-B is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

CHAPTER 159-B

SHOOTING RANGES

159-B:1 Definitions. In this chapter:

I. "Noise" shall mean the intensity, duration, and character of sounds from shooting.

II. "Shooting range" shall mean a property or properties designed and operated for persons using rifles, shotguns, pistols, revolvers, or black powder weapons, as defined by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; or archery; air rifles; silhouettes; skeet ranges; trap ranges; or other similar facilities.

159-B:2 Compliance With Noise Ordinances.

I. An owner or operator of a shooting range shall comply with all duly adopted noise control ordinances in effect on or after the effective date of this section in the municipality in which the shooting range is established or operated. No noise control ordinance shall restrict a weapon listed in RSA 159-B:1, II from firing within a shooting range, between dawn and dusk, at a rate of 2 seconds or more between shots.

II. An owner or operator who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a violation and:

(a) For a first offense, shall be subject to a warning.

(b) For a second offense, shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $500.

159-B:3 Cause of Action. A person may maintain a private action against the owner or operator of a shooting range for a violation of this chapter, provided the action is brought within 3 years from the date the violation was or should have been discovered.

159-B:4 Liability for Stray Ammunition or Debris. The owner or operator of a shooting range shall be subject to civil and criminal liability for injuries to any person or damage to property caused by stray ammunition, target parts, explosive devices, or other debris resulting from the operation of a shooting range that leave the boundaries of the shooting range.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2021.