New Hampshire has established the offense of “negligent storage of firearms.” However, a person may be guilty of this offense only if the firearm was used in a reckless or threatening manner, used during the commission of any misdemeanor or felony, or negligently or recklessly discharged.¹ In addition, ALL of the following statements must be true for a person to be guilty of this offense:

• The person stored or left a loaded firearm on premises under that person’s control;
• A person under the age of 16 gained access to the firearm; and
• The adult knew or should have known that a person under the age of 16 was likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of that child’s parent or guardian.²

New Hampshire has no law that requires unattended firearms to be stored in a certain way.

New Hampshire also does not require a locking device to accompany the sale of a firearm, and no state statutes require firearm owners to affirmatively lock their weapons.

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1. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 650-C:1. Moreover, a person is not guilty of the offense of negligent storage of a firearm if the: 1) child has completed a firearm safety or hunter safety course; 2) firearm is kept in a secure locked space or is secured with a trigger lock or similar device that prevents the firearm from discharging; 3) firearm is carried on the person or close enough that the person can readily retrieve the firearm; 4) child obtains the firearm in lawful self-defense or defense of another; 5) person has no reasonable expectation that a child is likely to be on the premises; or 6) child obtains the firearm due to illegal entry of the premises or illegal taking of the firearm from the premises. Id.[↩]
2. Id.[↩]