Republican lawmaker from Milford becomes first woman to drop loaded gun at State House

State Rep. Carolyn Halstead has become the first woman to join the ranks of Granite State lawmakers who have accidentally dropped a loaded firearm at the State House.

Kathleen Ronayne reported the second term Republican from Milford was rushing to take her seat during a House Education Committee meeting today when her backpack caught the handgun and knocked it from her waistband. Halstead quietly retrieved her gun without disturbing the children who were seated nearby, Ronayne noted.

Halstead joins a list of Republican lawmakers for whom “carrying” at the State House is not always a literal term.

Rep. Kyle Tasker made national headlines in 2012 when he dropped his gun, one of two he was carrying at the time, during a House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee meeting. He told onlookers that he had given blood that morning and was feeling “loopy.”

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