TITLE XII
PUBLIC SAFETY AND WELFARE

Chapter 159-D
CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS

Section 159-D:1

    159-D:1 Sale of Firearms; Criminal History Record and Protective Order Check. – The department of safety may become the point of contact for the federal government for the purposes of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

Source. 1999, 336:1, eff. Nov. 3, 1999.

Section 159-D:2

    159-D:2 Confidentiality. –
I. If the department of safety conducts criminal background checks under RSA 159-D:1, any records containing information pertaining to a potential buyer or transferee who is not found to be prohibited from receipt or transfer of a firearm by reason of state or federal law, which are created by the department of safety to conduct the criminal background check, shall be confidential and may not be disclosed by the department or any officers or employees to any person or to another agency. The department shall destroy any such records after it communicates the corresponding approval number to the licensee and, in any event, such records shall be destroyed within one day after the day of the receipt of the licensee's request.
II. The department shall retain records containing any information pertaining to a potential buyer or transferee who is prohibited from receipt or transfer of a firearm for 3 years.
III. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the department may maintain only a log of dates of requests for criminal background checks and unique approval numbers corresponding to such dates for an indefinite period.
IV. Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow the department to maintain records containing the names of licensees who receive unique approval numbers or to maintain records of firearm transactions, including the names or other identification of licensees and potential buyers or transferees, including persons not otherwise prohibited by law from the receipt or possession of firearms.

Source. 1999, 336:1, eff. Nov. 3, 1999.

Section 159-D:3

    159-D:3 Penalties for Attempts to Purchase Firearms Illegally. – A person who completes and signs an application for purchase of a firearm and who knows that such purchase is illegal because he or she is subject to a protective order shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a class B felony for a second or subsequent offense.

Source. 2000, 152:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2001.