HB 1336 - VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES
21Mar2024... 1271h
2024 SESSION
24-2723
09/10
HOUSE BILL 1336
AN ACT relative to employees' firearms in locked vehicles.
SPONSORS: Rep. Popovici-Muller, Rock. 17; Rep. Lynn, Rock. 17; Rep. Spillane, Rock. 2; Rep. T. Lekas, Hills. 38; Rep. Aron, Sull. 4; Rep. Kofalt, Hills. 32
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
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AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill prohibits certain employers from banning employees' storage of firearms or ammunition in their locked vehicles, and prohibits all employers from inquiring into or searching for firearms or ammunition in the locked vehicles. This bill further provides civil immunity to employers for any economic loss, injury, or death that results from an employer's adherence to this law.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
21Mar2024... 1271h 24-2723
09/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to employees' firearms in locked vehicles.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Subdivision; Storage of Firearms. Amend RSA 159 by inserting after section 26 the following new subdivision:
Storage of Firearms
159:27 Stored Firearms in Vehicles.
I. Any public or private employer that receives public funds from the federal or state government or any subdivision thereof, whether such funds are in the form of payment for contractual services, grants, or in any other form however denominated, and irrespective of the amount or level of such funding, or any agent of such an employer, shall not:
(a) Prohibit an employee who may legally possess a firearm from storing a firearm or ammunition in the employee's vehicle while entering or exiting the employer’s property or while the vehicle is parked on the employer’s property as long as the vehicle is locked, and the firearm or ammunition is not visible.
(b) Take any adverse action against any employee who stores a firearm or ammunition in accordance with this section.
II. Any employer or agent of any employer is prohibited from requiring an employee to disclose whether or not the employee is storing a firearm or ammunition in the employee's vehicle, and no searches of the employee's vehicle for a firearm or ammunition may be undertaken except by a law enforcement officer pursuant to a warrant or pursuant to a recognized exception to the warrant requirement.
III. An employer or an agent of an employer may not be held liable in any civil action for any damages for any economic loss, injury, or death resulting from or arising out of another person's actions involving a firearm or ammunition stored pursuant to this section, including, but not limited to, the theft of a firearm from an employee's vehicle, unless the employer or an agent of the employer intentionally solicited or procured the other person's injurious actions.
IV. This section applies to the state or any municipality as an employer when the state or municipal employee's vehicle is on property owned or leased by the state or municipality.
V. This section shall not be construed to authorize an employee to carry a firearm in any place where carrying a firearm is prohibited by law.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2025.