Hundreds of Well-Armed Gun Owners Rally In Concord

On Saturday, April 2nd, around 100-200 gun rights activists showed up at the state’s capital to rally in support of the right to keep and bear arms. Organized by the Women’s Defense League of New Hampshire, the annual pro-gun rally is a popular event in New Hampshire. While there are surely gun rights rallies in all 50 states, two major things set the ‘live free or die’ state apart from the others. 

Legislators

Around two dozen elected State Representatives attended the rally, and dozens more regularly attend radical pro-freedom and anti-government events in New Hampshire. And it isn’t just a fringe portion of the Republicans. Members of House leadership up to and including the House Majority Leader and Speaker of the House regularly attend these sorts of events. Speaker Packard attended and spoke at a corona-fascism rally last year. Majority Leader Osborne is a staple of the libertarian movement in New Hampshire. Yesterday, House Majority Whip Jeanine Notter came to the rally and spoke to the crowd in support of gun rights. At least 16 other legislators could be seen in the photo with her at the event, including some relatively high-profile Representatives, most of which identify as libertarian.

Militia culture

The other major difference between New Hampshire’s gun rallies and the ones in the other 49 states is the bold display of militia-style guns and gear. At yesterday’s event, dozens of people showed up with AR-15s, most of which were loaded with real ammunition. Dozens more were openly carrying pistols. There were around 50 ARs, around 50 pistols, and a guy walking around with what appeared to be a belt-fed machine gun. A few dozen activists showed up in full military gear, including body armor, as well. There may be no other state whose gun rallies feature so many well-armed residents ready to exercise and defend their natural rights.

Recent legislation

The rally also served as somewhat of a celebration of killing all of the Democrats’ recently proposed gun control legislation. Among the bills that House Republicans killed in Concord over the past weeks were proposals to prohibit openly carrying firearms at protests and at polling places. Republicans also passed bills that would legalize carrying loaded guns on ATVs and snowmobiles and prohibit state and local cops from enforcing any federal gun control.