[JURIST] The New Hampshire House of Representatives [official website] on Thursday approved a bill [SB 12 text] that would repeal the law prohibiting state citizens from carrying concealed firearms without a permit. Though similar bills have passed [NRA-ILA report] through the New Hampshire legislature twice, they were vetoed by the former governor, Senator Chuck Morse [official profile], on both occasions. The bill, backed by the National Rife Association (NRA) [advocacy website], would make New Hampshire the twelfth state to allow the concealed carrying of firearms, joining New England states Maine and Vermont. The bill, which passed with a 200-97 vote, must now be reviewed by Governor Christopher Sununu [official website], who is expected to sign it into law.

Gun control and the Second Amendment continue to be controversial topics across the US. In February the US House of Representatives [official website] on Thursday voted to repeal [text, PDF] an Obama-era gun regulation that required mental health information to be shared with the national gun background check system. In December Ohio Governor John Kasich [official website] signed Senate Bill 199 [JURIST report], making it legal to carry concealed weapons at daycare facilities and onto college campuses. In September the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit [official website] restored [JURIST report] gun ownership rights of individuals convicted of minor crimes. Earlier that month the New Jersey Second Amendment Society [official website] filed [JURIST report] a lawsuit against the state’s Attorney General in New Jersey’s district court alleging the state’s stun gun ban is unconstitutional. In June the US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that a state law conviction on reckless domestic assault is sufficient to bar possession of a firearm under federal law. Earlier in June Hawaii Governor David Ige signed a bill [JURIST report] requiring gun owners to be listed on an FBI database, notifying police if a Hawaii citizen is arrested in another state and providing a continuous criminal record check on those individuals seeking to possess a firearm.