On March 25, 2026, Durham held a guns on campus town hall meeting, sponsored by the New Hampshire Youth Movement, The Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus, Moms Demand Action, and GunSense NH.
Elected officials, activists, Durham police officers, UNH students, and community members gathered at the Community Church of Durham to discuss House Bill 1793, otherwise known as the ‘campus carry’ bill. The initial topic of conversation was the broad language of the bill and the complete lack of restrictions outlined.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Farrington (R-Rochester), believes that the “good guy with the gun” is a solution to stop a potential shooting. Zandra Rice Hawkins, Director of GunSense NH, showed the audience an image seconds before President Ronald Reagan’s attempted assassination in 1981. Four armed individuals were directly surrounding Reagan, but he was nonetheless wounded by “the bad guy with the gun.”
Hawkins said this bill would infringe upon the rights the University has typically had. HB 1793 would also normalize seeing armed individuals on campus. “I feel really bad for any students, faculty, law enforcement, or campus security that witnesses something like that and is hamstrung from taking action until it is too late,” said Hawkins.
At Farrington’s HB 1793 Q&A session on March 10, he argued that women on campus would feel safer with the presence of firearms in instances of sexual assault. Hawkins said data shows firearm presence makes victims more vulnerable to attack. In two campus carry states, Utah and Colorado, cases of rape on campus increased while the national rate went down.
Public universities in New Hampshire also continue to reel from state budget cuts. UNH has already had to cut $18 million from the budget. If HB 1793 were to pass, there are also financial worries, such as the cost of securing the campus to mitigate risk, insurance coverage to provide additional training, and storage of these firearms. UNH tuition costs are already on the rise, and many community members discussed how this would deter many students from attending the university.
Durham Deputy Police Chief Jack Dalton has a daughter who has been accepted at UNH, among many other schools. “I would never send my daughter here if this bill passes. I wouldn’t even consider it.”
Many supporters of HB 1793 argue that law enforcement cannot protect them in active shooter situations and takes too long to arrive on-scene before a possible fatality. Dalton said Durham PD performs tests to ensure their quickness on-site to a call. On Monday, March 23, they carried out a test and were able to arrive “on scene” in under 60 seconds.
The Durham Police Department has active shooter training twice a year, where they are instructed to run to the source of danger and are trained to look for the guy with the gun. So what happens when there are multiple armed individuals on a scene?
Rep. Lauren Selig (D-Durham) is a parent of two college students and a former teacher who lost students to gun violence. She asked members in the audience to hold up white index cards that were placed on their chairs. Dozens of white cards were held in the air. “To my amazing Chief and Deputy Chief, if I just called you and said we just had someone come running through waving a gun, it’s the person with the note card in the air. Which one of you is it, right?”
New Hampshire is also a “stand your ground” state. This does not include the initial aggressor, but displaying a weapon for self-protection is allowed, and deadly force can be used against an imminent use of unlawful deadly force.
On March 16, Rep. Farrington and others showed up to the Durham Town Council meeting, all wearing weapons. Rep. Wayne Burton (D-Durham) stated this was merely an intimidation tactic and went on to describe the dangers when guns are present, recounting his time serving in Vietnam. “I know what guns can do, and I’ve seen it happen even in the military. Friendly fire, accidental discharges, and suicide claimed a lot of lives. This is really nothing to fool with, but yet, that’s what’s happening with these folks,” said Burton.
A survey was sent out to UNH students, resulting in 85% of the 2,361 responses being individuals strongly opposing HB 1793. UNH is a unique campus, seconds away from Oyster River Middle School, and has a child care center on campus. The passage of this bill would not just affect the UNH community.
A Madbury resident and school board member for Oyster River Public School District said the board has been contacted by many parents worried about their students who are often on the UNH campus for field trips or other events. “Reach out to your students who are at Oyster River, because this affects them too.”
Elected officials and activists stressed the importance of showing up and testifying against this bill. John Bunker, NLC Representative and Director of External Relations at the UNH College of Health and Human Services, recounted a time one of his peers approached a senator at the State House in Concord about a controversial bill. He asked, “Senator, how are you going to vote today?” He pulled out a piece of paper with a yes and a no column, stating that seven people called him to vote for the bill, and six people called in opposition.
Bunker said, “Everybody’s voice makes a difference when you go to Congress. Legislators really don’t pay a lot of attention to us. Your voice is important. Please learn more. Please be engaged.”
