New Hampshire has joined twenty-six other states in enacting “Parking Lot” or “Guns at Work” laws. The New Hampshire law, which takes effect on January 1, 2025, limits certain employers from banning an employee from possessing lawfully owned firearms in a personal vehicle parked on company property.
Covered employers include any public or private employer that receives any amount of public funds from any segment of the federal or state government. Previously, private employers could ban employees from storing guns in personal vehicles parked in the employer’s parking lot and place conditions on the possession of firearms on company property. The new law expands the protections for employees who wish to keep their firearms in their personal vehicles.
- Covered employers are prohibited from restricting employees who are legally authorized to possess a firearm “from storing a firearm or ammunition in the employee’s vehicle while entering or exiting the employer’s property or while the vehicle is parked on the employer’s property as long as the vehicle is locked, and the firearm or ammunition is not visible.”
- Covered employers cannot require employees to disclose that they are storing a gun in their vehicle. Searches of vehicles can only be conducted by law enforcement with a warrant or recognized exception to the warrant requirement.
- A gun does not need to be locked in a safe or otherwise secured inside the vehicle. It just needs to be “out of sight.”
- Employers are granted civil immunity from any damages involving firearms and ammunition stored as specified — “out of sight.”
- Taking adverse action (such as demoting, disciplining, terminating or reducing pay) against an employee for lawfully storing a firearm or ammunition is prohibited.
Covered employers can still have policies that prohibit guns in the employer’s offices, facilities, and company-owned or leased vehicles. The law grants an exception when a warrant is being executed and does not authorize an employee to carry a firearm in situations where it is prohibited by state or federal laws.