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HB1697 Exempting certain firearms and firearm accessories manufactured and retained in New Hampshire from federal regulation.

Criminal Justice Dead Auto-scored

Exempting certain firearms and firearm accessories manufactured and retained in New Hampshire from federal regulation.

Impact Score — How Does This Bill Affect You?

5

Overall Impact Score

Concerning

Scale: 1 (harmful) to 10 (beneficial)

5
💰

Your Wallet

Potential modest benefit to NH firearms manufacturers, but likely unenforceable and could lead to costly legal challenges.

4
🏘️

Your Community

Would create legal confusion and could lead to residents unknowingly violating federal law by relying on a likely unconstitutional state exemption.

7
⚖️

Your Freedom

Asserts strong state sovereignty and Second Amendment rights by attempting to shield in-state firearms from federal regulation.

Status

Inexpedient to Legislate, Motion Adopted, Voice Vote === BILL KILLED ===; 04/09/2026; Senate Journal 8

Voted Yes

0 R

Voted No

0 R

R Yes D Yes R No D No

Sponsor

Mike Belcher (R)

The Short Version

Would exempt firearms and accessories made and kept in NH from federal gun regulations, based on a states' rights argument. Similar laws in other states have been struck down by federal courts as unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause.

Who's Behind This Bill?

Who Benefits

  • ▲ NH firearms manufacturers
  • ▲ Second Amendment advocates
  • ▲ State sovereignty proponents

Who Pays the Price

  • ▼ NH residents who could face federal charges for relying on the exemption
  • ▼ Taxpayers funding inevitable legal challenges

Roll Call Detail (1 vote)

Every recorded floor vote on this bill, with each legislator's individual vote. Click a name to see that rep's full record.

Who actually supports this bill?

Across the 1 recorded vote on this bill — counting each legislator's net direction and treating kill motions as opposing the bill — Republicans supported it ( 187 for , 4 against ) , and Democrats opposed it ( 1 for , 160 against ) .

"Supporting" means voting for passage OR voting against a kill motion. "Opposing" is the inverse. Concurs and amendment-only votes don't count.

Ought to Pass (passage vote) 2026-02-05
Passed

YES = Pass the bill. NO = Reject the bill.

187R + 1D
Voted to Pass (188)
4R + 160D
Voted Against (164)
29
Absent
13
Not voting
Show all 394 individual votes

Voted Yea (188)

Republicans (187)
Democrats (1)

Voted Nay (164)

Republicans (4)
Democrats (160)
Absent (29)

Aidan Ankarberg (I) , Arnold Davis (R) , Brian Nadeau (R) , Bryan Morse (R) , Catherine Sofikitis (D) , Daniel Popovici-Muller (R) , David Lundgren (R) , Douglas Trottier (R) , Ellen Read (D) , Gregory Hill (R) , Janet Lucas (D) , Juliet Harvey-Bolia (R) , Kevin Verville (R) , Linda Gould (R) , Matthew Coker (R) , Matthew Hicks (D) , Michael Murphy (R) , Mike Ouellet (R) , Paul Terry (R) , Peter Varney (R) , Robley Hall (R) , Russell Muirhead (D) , Sandra Panek (R) , Scott Bryer (R) , Stephanie Payeur (D) , Ted Gorski (R) , Thomas Buco (D) , Vicki Wilson (R) , Wayne Hemingway (R)

Read the Actual Bill → See All Bills

Bill statuses as of May 2026. Check LegiScan or NH General Court for the latest.

This bill was auto-scored using AI analysis of the bill text and legislative data. Scores may be refined as we review more bills.