Pro-Gun New Hampshire

Pro-Gun New Hampshire is a statewide membership organization that protects Second Amendment rights within the state of New Hampshire. With a mature leadership of current and former state senators and representatives, police chiefs, and others respected by the legislature, we influence state legislation through the personal efforts and honorable conduct of our leadership and members.  WE ARE YOUR VOICE IN THE LEGISLATURE on gun laws. 

Life membership is just $20, with NO DUES after that one-time fee.  We can do this because we do not have to pay for printing and mailing newsletters; all member communication is via the internet.  Life members receive a lapel pin and window sticker; Endowment membership is $50, and includes a lapel pin and two window stickers.  Upgrades from Life to Endowment are $45. (Fees current as of 2/17/09.)  To learn how to join, click here.

Note: As of March 2013, we switched from bumper stickers to window stickers (that go on the INside of your car's rear window).  They look just like the PGNH logo at the top of this page.

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The organization was formed in early 2006 after a split within the Board of Directors of Gun Owners of New Hampshire (GO-NH).  Four of the five founders of Pro-Gun New Hampshire were among the eight GO-NH Directors who left the 19-member GO-NH Board. State Representative Elbert "Bick" Bicknell, who had been the president of GO-NH, became the founding president of Pro-Gun New Hampshire. Sam Cohen, who had been a GO-NH Director since 2001 and its Legislative Liaison since 2002, proposed the name "Pro-Gun New Hampshire," designed the logo, and drafted the bylaws.  He now serves as the PGNH Executive Vice President and CEO. 

After all four legislators (and four others) left the GO-NH Board, the remaining GO-NH directors changed their bylaws to restrict legislators from serving on their Board. By contrast, we at Pro-Gun New Hampshire believe that the most important function of a pro-gun organization is to keep laws and regulations rights-friendly, and the best way to do that is to maintain close relationships with legislators and deal with the legislature on a personal basis, as well as through membership and public relations.

To this end, Pro-Gun New Hampshire has recruited gun-rights-friendly legislators, other public officials (including Chiefs of Police), and others respected by the state legislature to serve on its Board of Directors and Council of Advisors. Their contacts, friendships, and reputations help influence legislation. The Pro-Gun New Hampshire Board and Council members are listed here.

Both the organization and its members are committed to mature and honorable conduct in dealings with others, and this is codified in our Bylaws.

Note: We especially encourage you to join Second Amendment Sisters (www.2asisters.org), who serve a uniquely valuable purpose and with whom we have a special relationship; both men and women are welcome to join.

Why Join Pro-Gun New Hampshire?

Thomas Jefferson is widely quoted as saying that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."  With anti-gun news media coloring American culture for the last fifty years, we must remind the public, our legislators, and each other that gun ownership is a fundamental right, and that we’re proud to exercise it.  It is especially important that New Hampshire, the state closest in spirit to the people who founded this country, maintains and promotes the right to keep and bear arms that those founders so fiercely defended.  

"Pro-Gun New Hampshire" is not just the name of an organization — it's a description of the state. The Pro-Gun New Hampshire lapel pin and bumper sticker declare what New Hampshire is, for all to see.

Our rights ultimately depend on public perception.  A major purpose of Pro-Gun New Hampshire is to keep the pro-gun message in public view, so wear and display the Pro-Gun New Hampshire lapel pin wherever you can — in restaurants, when shopping, etc. Wearing the pin just at shooting ranges and gun shows is preaching to the choir.  And when you show people the pin or the bumper sticker, be sure to point out the Web address, beneath the eagle.  

The real New Hampshire must stand tall, remind everyone of its true principles, and never allow those principles to be compromised. Joining Pro-Gun New Hampshire is defending the state. 

What Does Membership Involve?

As a member of Pro-Gun New Hampshire, you agree to support the purposes of the organization and abide by its Statement of Principles. Per the bylaws:

Article II: Purpose

The purpose of Pro-Gun New Hampshire shall be to preserve, protect, defend, and promote the Right to Keep and Bear Arms as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and by the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire, and to preserve, protect, defend, and promote hunting, fishing, trapping, target shooting, gun collecting, historical reenactment, and the freedom to enjoy the outdoors.

Article III: Statement of Principles

Within Pro-Gun New Hampshire, all levels of the organization shall operate on the basis of honorable conduct, mutual trust, integrity, and fraternity.

We also ask for your email contact information, and from time to time may send email to notify you of important events. We WILL NOT reveal your identity to anyone outside the organization, per our bylaws.

Please note that because there are no membership dues, the organization is not budgeted to mail printed newsletters, nor conduct membership meetings. Member communication is via the website.

How Do I Join?

Life membership is available for a one-time fee of twenty dollars ($20*), and Endowment life membership for fifty dollars ($50*), to anyone who:

1. Is not prohibited by law from possessing a firearm, and who agrees to support the purposes of Pro-Gun New Hampshire and abide by its principles;
2. Submits an application which (per the bylaws) includes:
   -- name,
   -- mailing address,
   -- telephone number, and
   -- (especially) email address;
3. Submits the one-time membership fee;
   
4. Agrees to wear the lapel pin and display the window sticker; and
5. Is accepted by the Board of Directors.

Note that you need not be a resident of New Hampshire to join.

To apply for Life or Endowment membership, just mail us your contact information (as per item 2, above), clearly printed on any reasonable kind of paper*, along with the membership fee; that information and the fee will be considered to be your application. By submitting this application, you certify that you are not prohibited by law from possessing a firearm, and that you agree to support the purposes of Pro-Gun New Hampshire and abide by its principles. (*For your convenience, you can print out and mail the membership application form linked here, which you may also wish to hand out to others.)

Please send it to:

Pro-Gun New Hampshire, Inc.
75 S. Main St., Unit 7, PMB 284
Concord, NH 03301-4828

Upon approval of your application by the Board of Directors, we will mail your lapel pin  and a window sticker (two, for Endowment members) within one to two weeks.  (The window stickers look just like the logo at the top of this page.  They go on the inside of your car's rear window.) 

* Fees current as of 2/17/09; subject to change.