By a vote of 228-149, the NH House voted to amend the first sentence of House Rule 63 to read, “No person, including members of the House, except law enforcement officers while actively engaged in carrying out their duties as such, shall display any deadly weapon as defined in RSA 625:11, V while in the House Chamber, anterooms, cloakrooms, or any portion of the State House adjacent to any of the above.”
After the rule was changed in 2011 Boston.com reported “Weapons prohibitions in the gold-domed New Hampshire State House have been debated for years. Since 1971, weapons had been barred from the House chambers, Norelli said. In 1996, a Republican majority banned weapons from the capitol complex, including its legislative office building, and then lifted the ban in 2006, Norelli said. In 2009, the Democratic majority banned weapons from the complex…” Technically the ban only ever applied to State Reps, though in practice it applied to everyone. This new rule repealed the old wording, which I believe means that no one will be prevented from concealed carrying in the State House.
The vote was largely along party lines with 10 Democrats voting in favor of House Rule 63. They were: Benjamin Tilton, Robert Theberge, Linda Massimilla, Amanda Bouldin, Barbara Shaw, Armand Forest, Kenneth Gidge, C. Lee Guerette, James Verschueren, Larry Converse.
Also up for vote on the first day of the new session was a rule to double the number of people needed for a bill to obtain a Roll Call vote. That rule, House Rule 22, was tabled by a vote of 343-36.
