HB1793

The Honorable Chair and Members of the Committee: I am writing to ask you to oppose HB 1793. I live in Keene, a college town, which would be greatly affected by the passage of this bill. Reports from Yale School of Public Health, Boston University School of Public Health, state that the average life expectancy in American is shortened by deaths from gun violence. While to me, and many others, this is unacceptable, unfortunately there are those who say that these unfortunate deaths are the price of having liberty in America. Yet what about the liberty of those whose lives were ended? What about the liberty of Americans to go to the mall, the movies, or to school without fearing a shooting? Should not the freedom to live safely and peacefully trump the freedom to own weapons of mass killing? A college setting, where many students live in close quarters in dorms and apartments, where the majority of the population does not have a fully developed adult brain, is a terrible place to have access to guns.College students deserve to live free from gun violence. Please oppose HB 1793. Best, Molly Ellis

I have worked at UNH for close to 15 years, j would feel much LESS safe with guns on campus. If there was a threat it would be impossible to know who was the gunman and who was a student or staff member allowed to carry a gun, Plus guns can get stolen or be discharged by accident causing other dangerous issues.

As a UNH alumnus and NH resident, I oppose any bill that would make our local communities less safe. State universities have a responsibility to provide a safe environment for young adults trying to get an education. Our university students are contributing to our local economies, voting in local elections, starting careers, and families in this state, and we should be providing them the opportunity to thrive. Allowing weapons and reducing the ability to regulate gun use is unfathomable, and there is a plethora of data illustrating the horrific effects of relaxed gun laws - NH is no exception. More guns will not keep people safe and make our local communities more dangerous.

Education can only be promoted in a safe environment. Firearms are unsafe.

This is a horrible idea, considering the number of gun-related deaths in our country. Wildly unsafe and a threat to the community.

The majority of gun owners in NH and across the nation wish to have more regulations for gun ownership. Currently it remains more difficult to obtain a driver's license than to purchase a fire arm. Even after the recent gun violence at Brown, this bill makes public spaces/college campuses...etc. less safe. Young people who are not fully developed prior to age 25 (please see the research on brain development) represent this population on campus. They deserve a safe space, free from guns. There is no data or research that supports or justifies that more guns create safer places. Do not make NH the experiment for this. Please oppose HB1793

I firmly oppose.

With the ongoing reality of gun violence in this country, combined with rising tuition costs and growing uncertainty about job prospects after graduation, it is deeply concerning to consider policies that would make New Hampshire’s college and university campuses less safe. As a former student, I believe our campuses should be environments where people can learn, work, and visit without fear. Moving in the opposite direction puts students and the broader community at risk. I strongly urge you not to pass this bill.

As a former chemistry faculty member and Vice President for Academic Affairs at UNH, I believe this bill would open the door to many potential problems and even possibly catastrophes. Institutions, such as the University, are best able to regulate firearms, including possession and carrying, and "non-lethal weapons" for their own campuses I urge your vote AGAINST. HB 1793.

Please just listen to the people, and the news of all the shootings, how could you possibly think would help

Given the level of gum violence in our society, the fact that we are even considering this is ludicrous. My children are college students and the facts show very clearly that guns make people much less safe.

Many children I know attend UNH. The presence of guns increases the risk of violence- suicides, homicides, and accidental shootings. Keep guns off campuses, away from young adults who are often experimenting with alcohol and drugs in this time of their lives.

What are you doing. College should not be a war zone.

My strong opposition to HB1793 is based on my personal experience: as a retired Army officer; as a former Professor of Military Science at UNH; as a 2-tour Viet Nam combat veteran; as a resident of Durham; and as a gun owner (firearms in a safe – a minimum safety requirement). Approaching this issue on a cost benefit basis is simple – one student death could never be worth even a millenium of the benefit of having/carrying a weapon on campus. Costs are everywhere you look if this bill becomes law; Campus Police AND Durham Police would have to augmented with more support; Specialized PPE would be required for officers; safe haven spaces would need to be constructed in multiple locations; University liability insurance rates would skyrocket; student applications would plummet (the real reason behind this bill?), and much, much more.

I find the language in this bill to be very irresponsible. It will reduce the safety of students, staff and local residents.

I think colleges and universities should be able to set their own rules about firearms on campus. In light of recent shootings on campuses I think more not less regulation is needed.

As a former student at UNH, and lifelong Durham resident, I am appalled by the proposition to prohibit public colleges and universities from regulating the possession or carrying of firearms and non-lethal weapons on campus. You want dozens and dozens of untrained, 18, 19, 20 year old college students walking around campus, getting drunk at frat parties, and attending massive sporting events and university functions carrying GUNS? LETHAL weapons? Are you joking? This would constitute a massive public safety threat, and effectively render the university unable to protect kids on campus, not to mention sow additional fear and anxiety in the student and faculty bodies. Passing this bill under the guise of "protecting college students," presumably FROM the threat of gun violence, by literally exposing them to more guns, is tragically ironic and beyond a semblance of common sense. PLEASE DO NOT VOTE FOR HB1793.

Please let us keep our children and youth and citizens safe from a bad person with a weapon. I can't believe I have to write that keeping weapons out of schools and campuses should be a priority- it's common sense.

Given the number of shootings in this country as well as increasing dissatisfaction among students, due to increased tuition and lessened job prospects, the idea that we're going to reduce the safety of New Hampshire’s college and university communities, seems like exactly the WRONG thing to be doing. I do not want to go to work (I'm a university professor) and fear for my safety.  Please do NOT pass this bill!

Guns have no place on campus grounds. There are far too many shootings in this country, and colleges (and schools) should be a safe haven away from guns. Furthermore, colleges should have the right to determine their own policies.

The UNH Durham Campus currently feels safe. The University Police are a competent force. No college campus needs vigilantes.

I strongly oppose this bill, especially given the number of shootings at school campuses across the country. There is no need to have a gun on campus and if students or others are carrying a gun, I feel there will be more risk that others are harmed than that the gun is used to protect others. There should not be this prohibition against a basic safety regulation for students.

Please do not pass this bill! The world feels very unsafe to me at the moment, and having more guns around would make me feel more unsafe.

Carrying firearms on college campuses would increase the likelihood of accidental or criminal incidents and decrease safety of public and students on college campuses. This would be detrimental to the learning environment!

This is a dangerous bill. I taught at UnH for 28 years and this bill will make campus less safe. Guns should not be allowed on campus.