A campaign to carry

The owner of the Boscawen pizza parlor looked uncomfortably at the 45 mm handgun strapped to Robert Forsythes hip.

The gun was legal, Forsythe told him reassuringly. A Republican candidate for a House seat in Merrimack County District 8, Forsythe who pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon without a permit earlier this year has campaigned almost entirely on Second Amendment issues.

Sometimes, he said, when asked whether people get nervous around the gun or question him about it. They never say anything, really. If they do, its usually a chance for him to educate them about existing gun laws.

The gun is legal because New Hampshire has long been an open carry state, where residents can carry a handgun without a permit as long as its visible. After his arrest, Forsythe got his concealed weapon permit, which allows him to carry the gun hidden from view or with him in a car something that isnt legal under the open carry law.

The focus of Forsythes campaign is something candidates expect will create controversy during the next legislative session: the prospect of constitutional carry. Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona and Vermont are among the states that have constitutional carry, in which a government-issued license to carry isnt mandated.

I would co-sponsor constitutional carry, and if I cant push that through, Ill at least try to sponsor legislation to allow loaded rifles in cars. Nobody ever uses a rifle in road rage, said Forsythe, a 32-year-old former U.S. Army medic.

Issues such as the economy, Medicaid expansion and Northern Pass are secondary to Second Amendment issues for Forsythe, and he isnt shy about it.

Its been proven many times . . . the more armed citizens you have, the safer you are, Forsythe said.

The gun-regulation divide surfaced again recently after the state Department of Safetys changes to the concealed carry license application prompted pushback from gun-rights activists. Constitutional carry discussions will be taken up this next session, said Pat Sullivan, executive director of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police.

This keeps rearing its head in many different forms, Sullivan said. What we have currently works, and if its not broken, dont try to fix it.

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A campaign to carry