HB 1122 Requires mandatory hunting, wildlife management, and firearms education in all high schools.
Requires mandatory hunting, wildlife management, and firearms education in all high schools.
Impact Score — How Does This Bill Affect You?
Overall Impact Score
Concerning
Scale: 1 (harmful) to 10 (beneficial)
Your Wallet
Adds curriculum implementation costs for equipment, training, and instructor certification
Your Community
Outdoor education has value but mandatory approach is one-size-fits-all for all communities
Your Freedom
Mandates specific curriculum statewide rather than allowing local districts to choose
Status
Killed. ITL vote adopted Feb 12, 2026.
Sponsor
Unknown
The Short Version
Would have required every high school in the state to teach mandatory courses on hunting, wildlife management, and firearms handling. Joint Board of Education/Fish & Game Commission curriculum. While outdoor education has value, making firearms training mandatory in schools — while simultaneously banning teaching about systemic racism (HB 1792) — tells you exactly what this legislature thinks children should and shouldn't learn. Killed in committee.
Who's Behind This Bill?
Who Benefits
- ▲ Hunting and outdoor recreation advocates
Who Pays the Price
- ▼ Schools (unfunded curriculum mandate)
- ▼ Urban students (mandatory firearms training regardless of relevance)
Full Analysis
Let the juxtaposition sink in: the same legislature that passed the CHARLIE Act (HB 1792) to ban teaching about systemic racism, LGBTQ+ identities, and "identity-based ideology" also considered making firearms education mandatory in every high school.
HB 1122 would have required the Board of Education and the Fish & Game Commission to jointly develop mandatory curriculum on hunting, wildlife management, and responsible firearm handling for all high school students. Not an elective. Not optional. Mandatory.
Outdoor education and firearms safety aren't inherently bad things. Hunter education courses already exist through Fish & Game and are well-regarded. But making them mandatory for every student — including students in urban Manchester and Nashua who may never encounter a firearm outside school — while simultaneously banning curriculum about American history's uncomfortable truths is a statement of values.
The bill was killed in committee, but it's worth including because of what it reveals about priorities: in this legislature's vision, every NH student should know how to handle a gun, but none of them should learn about systemic racism.
Bill statuses as of May 2026. Check LegiScan or NH General Court for the latest.