> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://being-prepared.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Displaying a Firearm Is Not a Small Decision - URL: https://being-prepared.ghost.io/displaying-a-firearm-is-not-a-small-decision/ - Published: 2026-08-28T11:26:11.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-28T11:26:11.000Z - Author: Robert Yonaitis One of the most important decisions a carrier can make is whether to display a firearm. It is not a small decision. It is not a “warning shot with the holster.” It is a legal event, a moral event, and often the last moment you still control before other people—police, prosecutors, witnesses, and a jury—start writing the story for you. Carrying also changes psychology. A firearm can create a false sense of permission to stay in a situation you would have left empty-handed. That is a trap. If you would walk away without a gun, there is usually no good reason to stay *because* you have one. That is not cowardice. It is judgment. Avoiding a conflict that can change your life, your family’s life, and your freedom is the first use of force: not using it. The law around “brandishing” is not black and white. In many states the word is not even defined. What matters is whether you placed someone in fear, whether a reasonable person would have seen a threat of serious bodily injury or death, and whether your intent was to warn someone off or to intimidate them. What you thought was a valid reason may not be what a court considers a valid reason. Ignorance of the law is not a defense. If you carry, you need to know the statutes that apply where you live and where you travel. **A hard scenario, with seconds to decide** You are walking with a baby stroller. Someone impaired or aggressive grabs the carriage. What next? There is no script that fits every version of that event. The questions come in a rush: - What is the threat *right now:* theft of a bag, a shove, a grab of the child, a weapon, more people coming? - Can you create distance, put yourself between the child and the person, shout for help, or leave? - Is this a situation a reasonable person would see as likely to cause serious bodily injury or death? - If you display a firearm and the person runs, what do you do next? Displaying a gun does not automatically end the legal problem. The other person may call 911 and describe “a person with a gun.” Witnesses may only see the last three seconds. Your memory, their memory, and camera footage may not match. That is why the decision has to be grounded in law and training, not in adrenaline or pride. **New Hampshire law in plain language** New Hampshire does not define a separate crime called “brandishing.” The live issues are usually **criminal threatening** and, in some fact patterns, **reckless conduct**. Under **RSA 631:4**, it can be a crime to purposely place or attempt to place another person in fear of imminent bodily injury by physical conduct. If a deadly weapon is used in that offense, it can be a **Class B felony**. The legislature also wrote a specific protection for defensive display. Under **RSA 631:4, IV** and the matching language in **RSA 627:4, II-a**: A person who responds to a threat that a reasonable person would consider likely to cause **serious bodily injury or death**, by displaying a firearm or other means of self-defense **with the intent to warn away** the person making the threat, **has not committed a criminal act** under that section. Related points that matter: - **RSA 627:9, IV** says that producing or displaying a weapon is **non-deadly force**. - **RSA 631:3, V** says that displaying a firearm is **not**, by itself and without additional circumstances, reckless conduct. - New Hampshire is a stand-your-ground state in the sense that there is **no duty to retreat** before using deadly force if you are anywhere you have a right to be and were not the initial aggressor (**RSA 627:4, III**). - New Hampshire generally has **no statutory duty to inform** an officer that you are carrying. That is not a blank check to pull a gun because someone was rude, loud, or standing too close. The statute is tied to a **reasonable-person** view of a threat likely to cause serious injury or death, and to the **intent to warn away**. Pointing a gun to win an argument, to punish disrespect, or to “teach a lesson” is how people get charged. **Do you have to call the police if they run?** New Hampshire does not appear to impose a specific statute that says: “If you display a firearm in self-defense, you must report it.” That is not the same as saying silence is wise. In practice, someone else may already be calling. If the first report is “man with a gun near a stroller,” arriving officers are responding to an armed-person call, not a defensive-display call. Many instructors and attorneys advise being the first person to report what happened, staying on scene if it is safe, and giving a short, factual account. That is practical risk management, not a substitute for advice from your own lawyer. **Cases worth knowing** These are illustrations, not guarantees that your facts will come out the same way. *New Hampshire* - **State v. Shea (N.H. 2024).** The New Hampshire Supreme Court reversed a criminal-threatening conviction after a trial court told the jury to consider whether the defendant could have retreated instead of displaying a firearm. The Court treated the display as non-deadly force under the statute and held that the ability to retreat was not the right test for the “display to warn away” defense. The case is a reminder that even when a statute looks protective, jury instructions and the exact facts still decide outcomes. - **State v. Collins (N.H. 2024).** The Court again treated producing or displaying a weapon as non-deadly force and focused on whether the defendant reasonably believed the display was necessary at the moment it happened. Justification is judged against the circumstances at the time of the display, not the whole afternoon in hindsight. - **State v. Rice (N.H. 2017).** The Court discussed how New Hampshire law treats different uses of a firearm: merely producing or displaying a weapon is non-deadly force as a matter of law; purposely firing toward a person or occupied vehicle is deadly force as a matter of law. *National pattern, not a single “famous brandishing case”* There is no one U.S. Supreme Court case that settles “brandishing” for every state. Other states use different words brandishing, menacing, aggravated assault, unlawful display. The pattern in reported cases is consistent: display during a real, imminent threat is argued as defense; display during an argument, road rage, or to make a point is charged as a crime. Virginia, for example, has a specific brandishing statute aimed at pointing or exhibiting a firearm in a manner that reasonably induces fear. Michigan defines brandishing in threatening-display terms. Those statutes are not New Hampshire’s, but they show why copying internet advice from another state is dangerous. **What to do, and what not to do** Do: - Leave early if you can do so safely. A gun does not obligate you to stay. - Train the legal standard, not just the draw stroke. Under stress you default to training. - Know the difference between feeling uncomfortable and facing a threat of serious bodily injury or death. - If you must display, the purpose in New Hampshire’s statute is to **warn away**, not to punish. - After any defensive display, assume the incident is now a police matter whether you want it to be or not. Do not: - Display a firearm to end an insult, a panhandling encounter, or a property argument that is not a serious threat. - Chase someone who is leaving. - Give speeches, film a victory video, or argue the case on social media. - Assume “I was scared” is enough. The statute asks what a **reasonable person** would have believed. **Where to read the law** - [RSA 631:4 Criminal Threatening](https://law.justia.com/codes/new-hampshire/title-lxii/chapter-631/section-631-4/?ref=being-prepared.ghost.io) - [RSA 627:4 Physical Force in Defense of a Person](https://gc.nh.gov/RSA/html/LXII/627/627-mrg.htm?ref=being-prepared.ghost.io) - [RSA 627:9 Deadly and Non-Deadly Force definitions](https://gc.nh.gov/RSA/html/LXII/627/627-mrg.htm?ref=being-prepared.ghost.io) - [RSA 631:3 Reckless Conduct](https://www.lawserver.com/law/state/new-hampshire/nh-statutes/new%5Fhampshire%5Frevised%5Fstatutes%5F631%5F3?ref=being-prepared.ghost.io) - Official statutes: [New Hampshire General Court RSA](https://gc.nh.gov/?ref=being-prepared.ghost.io) - New Hampshire Supreme Court opinions: [courts.nh.gov](https://www.courts.nh.gov/?ref=being-prepared.ghost.io) Read the current text. Statutes get amended. A blog post is not a substitute for the official code or for a New Hampshire attorney who handles self-defense cases. **Community question** If you carry, have you already decided—in training, not in the moment—what kinds of threats would justify a display, and what you would do in the sixty seconds after the other person runs? The stroller scenario is useful because it forces the real issue: the child, the distance, the time, and the law all arrive at once. --- **Disclaimer** This post is for general discussion and education only. It is not legal advice, firearms training, or a recommendation to display or use a firearm in any situation. Firearms, self-defense, and use-of-force laws vary by state, city, and facts. New Hampshire statutes and cases cited here are summarized and may change. Only a licensed attorney reviewing your specific circumstances can advise you. You are responsible for knowing the law that applies to you, for your own conduct, and for seeking qualified legal and training counsel before you carry.