The State Police Permits and Licensing Unit issued 8,923 non-resident licenses in FY 2016. The four year license at a cost of $100 has generated nearly $1,000,000 of revenue deposited into the general fund in each of the last three fiscal years. The repeal of RSA 159:4 and the proposed change from a four year license to a five year license in RSA 159:6 would result in a significant decline in general fund revenue.
Although a non-resident pistol license would still be available under the proposed law, and would extend the expiration by one year (to five years), it would not be required under the amended version of RSA 159:6.
Therefore, it would be highly likely that the number of licenses issued would drop dramatically and result in a significant reduction of revenue to the general fund, likely to be close to the total amount of revenue currently received. There would be less permits to issue, therefore, there would be an expenditure decrease as less resources would be needed. However, the amount of revenue decrease is indeterminable, and as a result, the associated amount of the expenditure decrease is also indeterminable.
NH resident pistol licenses are issued locally with a cost of $10 for a four-year license. This revenue total is indeterminable as there is no mechanism in place to track and obtain this figure. Currently, this revenue is designated for the use of the local law enforcement agencies.
The amendment to RSA 159:6 extends the expiration of this license by one year, and as with non-resident pistol licenses, the need to obtain a resident pistol license would be obsolete other than for the purpose of utilizing reciprocity agreements within other states. The reenacted version of RSA 159:6 would dramatically reduce this funding source to local cities and towns. The NH Municipal Association states that most municipalities issue between 20 to 400 licenses annually, with smaller towns issuing fewer and larger cities issuing more.
Cities like Manchester and Nashua typically issue about 1,500 resident pistol licenses each year.