Committee recommends against universal background checks, three-day waiting period after hours of testimony

Hundreds of Granite Staters and a dozen witnesses filled the Criminal Justice and Public Safety hearing room on April 12 as lawmakers debated House Bill 56, a proposal to require a background check for any firearm transfer in New Hampshire and impose a minimum 72‑hour waiting period before a transferred firearm may be taken into possession.

The committee voted in executive session to recommend the bill be declared “inexpedient to legislate” (ITL), 8–7, after extended public testimony and questioning. The recommendation means the committee will not move HB 56 forward to the full House.

Why it mattered: Sponsor Representative David Muse (R‑Portsmouth) said the bill closes a gap that allows private transfers to occur without a background check, exposing convicted felons, domestic abusers and some people adjudicated as a danger to themselves or others to a pathway to firearms. He told the committee the bill also establishes a 72‑hour buffer that could reduce impulsive gun suicides.

Supporters’ case: Dozens of supporters, including Moms Demand Action volunteer Marcella Dubey, physicians and bereaved family members, urged passage. Dr. John Henke, speaking for the New Hampshire Psychiatric Society, told the committee that “the use of a gun greatly increases the risk that violence to self or others will result in a fatality” and that waiting periods and background checks are associated with reduced firearm suicides and homicides. Donna Moore described the 2021 suicide of her 21‑year‑old son after he legally bought a gun minutes before using it; she said a delay of even 24 hours could have given him time to reconsider.

Moms Demand Action and other witnesses cited multi‑state research and peer‑reviewed estimates presented at the hearing that waiting periods can reduce firearm suicides (quoted ranges at the hearing: roughly 7–11% in some studies) and can reduce homicides in some analyses.…