In the wake of mass shootings at Brown University and a Hanukkah celebration in Australia, some Democrats are calling for more restrictions on gun rights. On Wednesday, New Hampshire House Republicans responded by announcing a push to expand the rights of college students to protect themselves from criminal violence.
GOP House leadership, including Majority Leader Jason Osborne, announced support for the Protecting College Students Act — or “campus carry,” as some lawmakers called it — at a State House press conference.
Rep. Sam Farrington (R-Rochester), the bill’s sponsor and a current senior at the University of New Hampshire, argued that existing university policies violate state law.
“Aside from my role as a legislator, I am also a college student,” Farrington said. “Brown University had a school policy that prevented college students from defending themselves … Brown left those students as defenseless victims inside that room.”
Farrington cited Article 2-a of the New Hampshire Constitution and RSA 159:26, arguing that the authority to regulate firearms belongs exclusively to the state legislature, not university administrators.
“Self-defense is not a privilege. It is a God-given right,” Farrington said. “My message to House Democrats … is simple: Put your money where your mouth is. If you want action, vote for this bill when it comes to the House floor.”
Assistant Majority Whip Sayra DeVito (R-Danville), Chair of the House Republican 2A Coalition.
Most Democrats and gun-control activists disagree. They argue that increased availability of firearms leads to more violence and that allowing citizens to own or carry guns into public spaces makes communities less safe.
Rep. David Meuse (D-Portsmouth) told The Boston Globe that Republicans are “profoundly tone-deaf” on the gun issue.
“More guns on college campuses do not address the epidemic of gun violence; they endanger students and bystanders, forcing ordinary people to act as law enforcement and increasing the risk of being mistaken for a threat by responding police,” Meuse said.
Republicans counter that students trapped in the Brown University classroom had no way to defend themselves because of the college’s gun policies. They made the same argument about Australia, where members of the Jewish community celebrating Hanukkah had to rely on acts of courage from unarmed bystanders.
“It’s not a coincidence, whether it was Brown University or in Australia, that the locations mass shooters choose to commit their acts of violence are gun-control-heavy areas,” said Deputy House Majority Leader Joe Sweeney (R-Salem).
“Democrats want America to look like Australia: disarmed citizens, total government control, and the same horrific outcomes,” Sweeney added. “We reject that model completely. Our responsibility is to protect freedom and protect lives, not surrender both.”
The Globe also quoted the gun-control group Everytown for Gun Safety, which rejects the argument that gun-free zones are more likely to be targeted for mass shootings. The group released a study claiming only 10 to 13 percent of mass shootings take place in gun-free zones, while Second Amendment advocates say the number is much higher.
The difference stems from methodology. In addition to using a broader definition of mass shootings — Everytown includes domestic crimes involving more than four shooting victims — the group’s definition of “gun-free zones” excludes locations that allow armed security. That definition excludes most U.S. college campuses, including Brown.
Another counter to the “more guns, more violence” argument is New Hampshire itself. More than 40 percent of the state’s residents live in households with a firearm, and in 2024, the state ranked fifth nationally for gun sales per capita. It also has one of the lowest homicide and crime rates in the country.
“As usual, the Constitution has really only four words that matter in this situation: ‘shall not be infringed,’” Osborne said. “The Constitution does not end where the lines of the campus begin.”
Osborne noted that while the New Hampshire State House allows law-abiding citizens to carry firearms and lacks metal detectors, it remains safe. He contrasted that with college campuses that ban weapons entirely.
“The idea that we can wave a magic wand and make guns disappear is hysterically absurd,” Osborne said. “We all know you’re not going to prevent the bad guys from carrying guns just by passing a law saying they can’t. These laws only create soft targets.”
Assistant Majority Whip Sayra DeVito (R-Danville) closed the conference by framing the issue as one of women’s safety and parental concern.
“I’m a mother. I’m a legislator … I want to know that when our young adults leave home, often for the first time ever, they are not being sent into a world less protected than the day before,” DeVito said.
She emphasized that the proposed legislation would not force anyone to carry a gun or expand who is eligible to do so, but would ensure that rights do not vanish at the campus gate.
“The right to self-defense is not abstract … It’s the right of a young woman walking back to her dorm after a late-night class,” DeVito said. “We’ve been told for years that gun-free zones make people safer, but every tragedy proves the opposite. Criminals do not respect signs.”
