Senate Judiciary Committee
Brendan Bunnell 271-4063
HB 1365, relative to applications for licenses to carry a loaded pistol or revolver.
Hearing Date: March 10, 2026
Time Opened: 1:20 p.m. Time Closed: 1:34 p.m.
Members of the Committee Present: Senators Gannon, Abbas, Altschiller and Reardon
Members of the Committee Absent: Senator Carson
Bill Analysis: This bill prohibits pistol/revolver license application forms from requesting employment, personal references, or record disclosure information beyond what was required on the December 2009 version of form DSSP 85.
Sponsors:
Rep. McFarlane | Rep. Popovici-Muller | Rep. Thibault |
Rep. Layon | Rep. Giasson | Rep. Sirois |
Rep. Tim Mannion | Rep. Corcoran | Rep. Sabourin dit Choiniere |
Sen. Innis | Sen. Murphy |
|
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Who supports the bill: Senator Daniel Innis, Representative Terry Roy, Representative Daniel Popovici-Muller, Representative Mike Belcher, Representative Donald McFarlane, JR Hoell, Joseph LoPorto, Cory Stone, Daniel Richardson, Simon Berrio, Curtis Howland, Timothy Finney, Pamela Harders, Patricia Rotondo, Paul Chauvin, Teresa Brooks, Bill Alleman and Leigh Hutchinson.
Who opposes the bill: 53 people signed in opposition, for a complete list of those who signed please email brendan.bunnell@gc.nh.gov.
Who is neutral on the bill: None.
Summary of the testimony presented:
Representative Donald McFarlane spoke in support of the bill. He explained that it would not lower standards for licenses to carry a loaded pistol or revolver, but instead streamline that process by eliminating unnecessary information gathering.
- Explained that this additional information the bill targets is not used by the police nor does it serve any additional purpose.
Representative Terry Roy spoke in support of the bill. He explained that the Criminal Justice Committee had unanimously passed the bill. He argued that the questions currently asked on the application for these licenses are currently not relevant and that the bill is an attempt to clean up the process.
Representative Daniel Propovici-Muller spoke in support of the bill. He explained that while it is the law in New Hampshire for Police Departments to ask for no more information than required by the relevant form, many ask a multitude of additional questions. The Representative explained that he had been compelled to sue his police department when he was seeking to acquire one such license after they violated this provision.
- Stated that another resident of his town had been denied a license for failing to provide references. He expressed that this issue of asking for superfluous information is a significant issue.
Joseph LoPorto, a representative for the National Rifle Association, spoke in support of the bill. He stated that some of the information requested for these licenses has been shown to be superfluous in the past. These questions can also be discriminatory, citing those asking after work references, and can raise some important privacy concerns.
- Explained that while this is an optional license, as residents of New Hampshire do not require it to open carry a pistol or revolver, it is greatly needed by residents of the state.
Officer Victor Muzzy, a captain of the Justice Information Bureau in the New Hampshire State Police, stated that his department was neutral on the bill. He explained that some local departments might require more information.
- Expressed concern that the bill references the 2009 version of the relevant form, rather than the more recent 2017 variant. He stated that there could be less confusion if all parties involved were referencing the correct version of the form.
- Senator Abbas asked for clarification on whether this bill only referenced one version of the DSSP85 form, and whether they could reference all versions of this form.
- Officer Muzzy stated that this was correct, and that it was a point of clarity to avoid confusion. He stated that the 2009 version of the form does not have a statement on the top which says that an incomplete form will be returned.
- Senator Reardon asked if the current form was from March of 2017, and whether he would be comfortable using that version of the form in the bill and whether it would require revision.
- Officer Muzzy responded that it was and that revising it would cause less confusion with the amended version of the form being the most updated variant. He stated that many municipalities and areas are dependent on this form for their own laws.
- Senator Reardon asked if whether revisions to the form go to administrative rules or whether they are able to revise that themselves.
- Officer Muzzy responded that he was uncertain but that he would suspect that it would need to go through rules.
- Senator Reardon asked how long it takes to revise a form.
- Officer Muzzy responded that it depends on the situation, but that the adjudication of the revised form would take some time.
BMB
Date Hearing Report completed: March 13, 2026