New Hampshire expanded gun ownership protections with two new pieces of legislation that were aimed at preserving firearm owners’ rights and privacy.

Granite Staters will soon be permitted to keep loaded guns in their cars at work due to a law proposed by State Rep. Daniel Popovici-Muller, a Windham Republican. It mandates that all companies that receive government funding – including subsidies, grants and any other money – cannot prohibit employees from keeping a firearm in their car when parked on company property, as long as the car is locked and the gun is kept out of sight.

Popovici-Muller said he views the law more as providing clarity than as expanding gun rights. It stemmed from discussions with constituents, who came to him with concerns about the right to carry a firearm conflicting with employer policies that prohibit guns on the premises.

“They have to choose between not carrying at all on the way to work and back because then the firearm would be on the employer property, therefore putting them at risk of being fired, or finding another job,” Popovici-Muller said. “That seems a very tough situation to be in.”

This doesn’t mean guns will be allowed inside the workplace – companies can still have their own policies on that. The law also stipulates that companies can’t be held civilly liable if a crime or damage does occur as a result of this bill – for example, if the firearm was stolen from someone’s car and used to commit a crime.

When asked about the potential damage or harm that could result from allowing firearms on company property, Popovici-Muller said he believes this law won’t change much. It won’t stop crimes from happening, he said, but it doesn’t increase the potential for crime either.

“This bill does not really change the possibility of crimes happening in any meaningful way,” he said. “If somebody wants to break into a car, they would presume to break into a car either way because they cannot see there is a firearm. There is nothing that makes that car more attractive than others.”

Another bill aimed at preserving privacy mandates that credit card and payment companies will no longer be allowed to label purchases of guns, ammunition or accessories with a firearms purchase code, according to HB 1186, which Gov. Chris Sununu recently signed into law. This is to stop those purchase codes from being aggregated and shared with the federal government and keep firearm purchases from being tracked in that way.

Rep. Jason Janvrin, a Seabrook Republican, said he framed this as an extension of a state constitutional amendment, the Right to Live Free from Government Intrusion in Private and Personal Information, which passed in 2018 with flying colors in a ballot referendum. Eighty-one percent of voters approved that amendment.

“Owning a firearm is protected under our constitution,” Janvrin said. “Commerce in a legal product should not be tracked.”

Anyone can carry a firearm in New Hampshire without obtaining any permit or license. About 41% of adults in the state had guns in their homes as of 2022, according to a report from CBS News.

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly or send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.