HB 1108 New Hampshire House · 2026 Regular Session

relative to the offense of criminal threatening.

HB 1108 revises New Hampshire's criminal threatening law to clarify that individuals displaying a firearm or other lawful self-defense tool in response to specific threats (like potential serious injury, death, property damage, or unlawful intrusion) will not be considered to have committed criminal threatening. It applies directly to people using defensive measures against these defined threats. The key provision creates a legal exception for reasonable defensive actions, specifying that the response must be to conduct a reasonable person would view as likely to cause the listed harms. The bill takes effect January 1, 2027, with no estimated state or local fiscal impact.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Dec 1, 2025 Last action Apr 3, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced As Amended by the House · 2 edits
MINOR
The House amendment made two substantive changes to the self-defense display provision: it removed the 'reasonable person' standard (lowering the threshold from an objective test to a subjective one) and removed 'property damage' from the list of harms that justify displaying a firearm. The first change makes it easier for someone to claim they were justified in displaying a weapon, while the second narrows the scope by excluding property-only threats.
ELIGIBILITY

Changed 'a reasonable person' to 'a person,' removing the objective reasonableness standard. Previously, a person had to show that a reasonable person would perceive the conduct as threatening. Now, only the individual's own perception matters, making it easier to claim justification for displaying a firearm.

SCOPE

Removed 'property damage' from the list of harms (alongside serious bodily injury, death, theft, unlawful intrusion, and refusal to leave) that can justify displaying a firearm or other lawful means of self-defense. Property-only threats no longer qualify for this protection.

Floor votes · House Mar 11, 2026

How they voted

10688
Passed · 28 other
Total votes 222
Mar 11, 2026
D Democratic107
5 Yea 88 Nay 14
82% Nay
I Independent2
1 Yea 1
50% Yea
R Republican113
100 Yea 13
88% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
16
Key actions
2
Committee
3
Apr 1, 2026
Committee
Committee Report: Referred to Interim Study, 04/09/2026; Vote 5-0; CC; SC 13
upper
Mar 17, 2026
Introduced
Introduced 03/12/2026 and Referred to Judiciary; SJ 7
upper
Mar 11, 2026
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (106-88-28)
house
Mar 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Ought to Pass with Amendment 2026-1113h: MA RC 193-144 03/11/2026 HJ 7 P. 75
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Committee
Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate 02/11/2026 (Vote 13-0; CC) HC 9 P. 5
lower
Dec 1, 2025
Introduced
Introduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Criminal Justice and Public Safety HJ 1 P. 6
lower
1 primary · 5 co-sponsors

Sponsors