Concord
Rules on allowing guns in Representatives Hall, including the anteroom and public gallery overlooking it, have flipped back and forth depending on which party held a majority for the last decade. After four years in the minority, Democrats regained control of the House in November, and one of their first actions was to restore the rule Republicans had thrown out in 2015.
The 220-163 vote followed party lines, with only four Democrats voting against the ban. One Republican voted for it.
“This is an issue of gun safety and public safety,” said Majority Leader Douglas Ley, D-Jaffrey. “We don’t want to wait, as has been suggested, until there is a problem because if we do that, we are waiting until there is a tragedy.”
Supporters of the ban called it common sense, given that children frequently visit the Statehouse. They cited two recent incidents as cause for concern: A House lawmaker dropped a loaded revolver onto the floor as she arrived late to a committee hearing in 2017, and another lawmaker dropped his handgun at a hearing in 2012. Neither weapon discharged. Neither representative currently is in the House.
“As a mother, grandmother, former teacher and educator, I want children to be able to come to this body and feel safe,” said Rep. Mary Heath, D-Manchester.
Rep. John Burt, R-Goffstown, said banning guns was as absurd as banning women or minorities would be, and said the House doesn’t have the authority to turn its chamber into “some kind of Constitution-free zone.” After receiving five death threats in his four terms, Burt said he will continue exercising what he called his God-given right to carry a gun, despite the vote.
“I want to make sure every crazy nut out there that loves to go to these gun-free zones and do their killing understand one thing: I, Rep. John Burt, of Goffstown, will not be a victim in my House, the people’s house, because you guys have the majority,” he said.
The first ban on weapons in the House was enacted in 1971. It was requested by a Republican House speaker after a fellow lawmaker threatened to shoot him, said Rep. Timothy Smith, D-Manchester.
“I would submit, Mr. Speaker, that if there is a threat of gun violence in this chamber, that threat does not come from a nut in the gallery,” Smith said. He later apologized, saying he did not mean to suggest any of his colleagues were “nuts.”
The Upper Valley’s delegation to the House overwhelmingly backed the rule change.
Voting in favor were Reps. Richard Abel, D-Lebanon; Joshua Adjutant, D-Ashland, Susan Almy, D-Lebanon; Polly Campion, D-Hanover; John Cloutier, D-Claremont; Francesca Diggs, D-Rumney; Roger Dontonville, D-Enfield; Susan Ford, D-Easton; Ned Gordon, R-Bristol; Timothy Josephson, D-Canaan; Kevin Maes, D-Rumney; Gary Merchant, D-Claremont; Mary Jane Mulligan, D-Hanover; Garrett Muscatel, D-Hanover; Sharon Nordgren, D-Hanover; Andrew O’Hearne, D-Claremont; Denny Ruprecht, D-Landaff; George Sykes, D-Lebanon, Laurel Stavis, D-Lebanon; and Linda Tanner, D-Georges Mills.
In opposition to the measure were Reps. John Callum, R-Unity; Rick Ladd, R-Haverhill; Thomas Laware, R-Charlestown; Gates Lucas, R-Sunapee; Skip Rollins, R-Newport; Steven Smith, R-Charlestown; and Walter Stapleton, R-Claremont.
Rep. Vincent Paul Migliore, R-Bridgewater, and Lee Oxenham, D-Plainfield, were excused from Wednesday’s vote.
About 50 opponents of the ban gathered outside the Statehouse in 20-degree weather before the vote. One man wearing a tricorn hat and a gun on each hip carried a sign fashioned out of a hockey stick. One side read “Keep Calm and Carry.” The other side said “Ban Idiots, Not Guns.”
News staff writer Tim Camerato contributed to this report.