In the wake of the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., New Hampshire lawmakers are considering changes to the state's lax gun laws. It is unclear if New Hampshire's gun laws will change, however, according to State Sen. David Pierce, D-Etna. The College will not be changing its gun policies, Director of Safety and Security Harry Kinne said.
Under the current College policies, students, faculty and staff are prohibited from having privately owned handguns on campus, according to the Dartmouth College Student Handbook. Students are allowed to store hunting rifles with Safety and Security if they have either a hunter's education certificate or a safe gun handling certificate.
The College offers hunter education courses approximately twice a year, but students are not allowed to use firearms on College property, according to Kinne. Few have expressed concerns about the College's "highly regulated" gun policies, Kinne said. Only around 40 students a year bring firearms to campus.
New Hampshire has some of the loosest gun laws in the United States, according to a December 2012 article by New Hampshire Public Radio.
New Hampshire residents are required to have a license to carry a concealed weapon, but it is legal to carry an unconcealed firearm without a license. There is no minimum age for gun possession. Similarly, New Hampshire has no laws regulating assault weapons or guns in public schools.
The New Hampshire General Court will be considering several laws that deal with gun control in the upcoming session, Pierce said. He said he does not know any specific details of the bills, but gun control remains a divisive issue and any bills regulating guns will draw controversy.
Students said they hoped that the Newtown tragedy would turn over a new leaf in New Hampshire's lax gun laws and voiced support for Dartmouth's gun policies.
"I am personally someone who does not see why there would ever be a reason to have a gun, but people have different backgrounds," Christin Mayberry '16 said. "If it's registered and you know who it belongs to, that's fine."
While he believes that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to own firearms, he thinks that gun ownership must be regulated.
"We need to discuss reasonable regulation," Pierce said. "People shouldn't object to reasonable regulation. We should agree to prohibit to carry firearms in courthouses and that bringing them to the state house is a risk to public safety."
Hanover residents have debated the lack of regulations for assault weapons and guns in public settings in the months following the Newtown tragedy. On Jan. 4, Reverend Cara Bailey, the senior pastor at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, hosted an open forum where Hanover residents could discuss gun control in the Upper Valley. Around 120 local residents and six local state representatives attended the event, Bailey said.
"I wanted to bring together some representatives from the Upper Valley and have an open community forum so people could hear from our representatives," Bailey said. "I wanted our legislators to hear from people that we're ready and we're willing. We want to help."
Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone also believes that there needs to be greater gun regulation in New Hampshire.
"New Hampshire has an open carry situation," Giaccone said. "You do not need a license to walk around with a loaded and exposed firearms. You don't see many people doing this, but there are some that do. You only need a license to carry a concealed weapon, but there is no requirement to demonstrate expertise or familiarity with your weapon to get a license. I think this should be looked at."
Hanover residents will be more likely to support gun control legislation because they are more liberal than other New Hampshire residents, Bailey said.
Bailey hopes to help keep the public aware of the importance of reforming gun laws until the state legislature passes a bill.
"What happens so often is that there is a lot of outcry after a big shooting that lasts a while," Bailey said. "There's lots of response to that, and then it kind of fades."
Both Bailey and Pierce said that the Newtown shooting played a large role in their interest in updating gun laws.
Giaccone said that the Hanover Police Department is planning to meet with school administrators in the Hanover district to discuss school security policies.
Pierce said he believes that gun control will continue to be a priority in the future.
"Newtown touched the nation on a very different level," Pierce said. "It really did change the dynamic of the discussion. Out of a crisis, some good can be done."
