New Hampshire Pro-Gun Group Plans Rally After Concealed Carry Veto

Concord — Gov. Maggie Hassan’s veto of a bill to remove the licensing requirement for carrying hidden guns is far from the last word on the issue.



Members of the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance are trying to organize a rally of gun owners on the Statehouse lawn on Saturday.



A Facebook page advertising the event encourages participants to peacefully exercise their rights to carry guns openly and concealed, if they have a license.



Republican Rep. JR Hoell, of Dunbarton, a cosponsor of the concealed-carry bill that Hassan squelched, said there might not be enough time to plan a rally by this weekend but that pro-gun groups will hold one at some point.



“There are thousands of people in New Hampshire who are outraged by what the governor has done,” said Susan Olsen, director of legislation for the Women’s Defense League.



Hassan, meanwhile, is using the veto as a way to raise cash.



In an email Tuesday from her political committee, Hassan told supporters that the National Rifle Association will attack her. She is seeking to raise $5,000 by the end of Tuesday.



“This week I vetoed a radical right-wing bill that would allow anyone to carry a hidden gun without a license,” the email says. “The gun lobby is furious.”



Anyone who can legally possess a gun in New Hampshire is allowed to carry it openly, but carrying the gun concealed requires a license from local officials. It’s up to town officials, typically police officers, to decide within 14 days of receiving an application whether the person is “suitable” to carry a gun.



Olsen, who testified in support of removing the license, said it amounts to state-sanctioned discrimination because police officers can take their own bias into account when deciding if someone is “suitable” to carry a concealed gun. She called Hassan’s veto “shocking and shameful.”



Olsen said a coalition of groups that are against the licensing requirement plan to mount a “vigorous” campaign to overturn Hassan’s veto. Support from two-thirds of both the Senate and House is needed for a veto override.





