CHAPTER 361
HB 160 – FINAL VERSION
13Jan2010… 0059h
19May2010… 2096eba
2010 SESSION
04/09
HOUSE BILL 160
AN ACT relative to physical force in defense of a person.
SPONSORS: Rep. Pepino, Hills 11; Rep. Mead, Hills 4; Rep. B. Shaw, Hills 16; Rep. Baldasaro, Rock 3; Rep. P. Price, Hills 26; Sen. Gallus, Dist 1; Sen. Roberge, Dist 9; Sen. Letourneau, Dist 19
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill provides that the mere display of a firearm or other means of self-defense intended to warn away a person making a threat shall not constitute a criminal act.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
13Jan2010… 0059h
19May2010… 2096eba
09-0353
04/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to physical force in defense of a person.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
361:1 New Paragraph; Physical Force in Defense of a Person. Amend RSA 627:4 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:
II-a. A person who responds to a threat which would be considered by a reasonable person as likely to cause serious bodily injury or death to the person or to another by displaying a firearm or other means of self-defense with the intent to warn away the person making the threat shall not have committed a criminal act.
361:2 New Paragraph; Criminal Threatening. Amend RSA 631:4 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:
IV. A person who responds to a threat which would be considered by a reasonable person as likely to cause serious bodily injury or death to the person or to another by displaying a firearm or other means of self-defense with the intent to warn away the person making the threat shall not have committed a criminal act under this section.
361:3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2011.
Approved: July 23, 2010
Effective Date: January 1, 2011