CONCORD — The recent fatal shooting at Brown University shows that banning guns on campus makes students more vulnerable to violence, state Rep. Sam Farrington, a University of New Hampshire senior, told reporters Dec. 17 in promoting legislation to end such bans.

Farrington, R-Rochester, and other House Republicans, also said in the Statehouse news conference that the shooting that killed 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia on Sunday, illustrates that Australia’s restrictive gun laws don’t protect the public.

Rep. Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, the deputy House majority leader, said gun control restrictions leave people “unable to defend themselves, their families, their peers.”

Farrington said violence similar to what occurred at Brown University in Rhode Island, which left two dead and nine injured, could occur in New Hampshire, where universities also prohibit guns on campus.

“UNH, Plymouth State, Keene State, the list goes on, they all have one thing in common — these are public universities that are infringing on the Second Amendment rights of college students right here in New Hampshire,” said Farrington.

“They claim to be gun free zones. Well if we know anything about gun-free zones, looking at Australia and Brown, we know that they are not violence free zones. They are only defenseless zones where victims are left hopeless, without any hope of defending themselves.”

Claudio Neves Valente: What to know about the Brown, MIT shooter

He is the prime sponsor of House Bill 1793, which the Legislature will consider next year. It would prohibit public colleges and universities from regulating the possession or carrying of firearms and non-lethal weapons on campus.

Under the bill, if a college or university that received federal funds instituted such a ban, they could be sued.

Democrat speaks against legislation

State Rep. Nicholas Germana, D-Keene, a history professor at Keene State College, said Thursday he wouldn’t feel any safer if people coming on campus were packing firearms.

Any police response to an active shooter on a college campus would be fraught if armed bystanders became involved and crossfire broke out, he said.

“All the sudden police come on that campus and it’s a shootout at the OK Corral,” Germana said. “How do police know who the good guy is and who the bad guy is?”

He said the tragedy in Australia last weekend is an anomaly that doesn’t alter the fact that gun violence rates in that country decreased after strict firearm regulations were passed almost 30 years ago and remain much lower than U.S. rates.

“We can look around the world to see examples of this where the number of guns in the population at large corresponds to gun violence,” Germana said. “It’s clear that when Republicans say in this country that gun control measures do not decrease gun violence, it is demonstrably false.”

The University System of New Hampshire said in the fiscal note of House Bill 1793 that the measure could cost it as much as $500,000 because insurance premiums and liability claims would increase, more security measures would be required, firearm storage systems would be needed, expected lawsuits would create attorney fees and the ability to attract students and faculty would decrease.

These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. Don’t just read this. Share it with one person who doesn’t usually follow local news — that’s how we make an impact. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

Trees were blown down. Electrical poles were snapped. And Christmas decorations went flying off lawns.

All thanks to Friday’s intense storms, which generated wind gusts as strong as 63 mph at the High Point Monument in Sussex County, 60 mph at Teterboro Airport in Bergen County and 60 mph in Belleville in Essex County.

Those were among the highest gusts clocked across the Garden State, according to the National Weather Service and the Rutgers NJ Weather Network.

Fierce gusts also were whipping down in South Jersey and along the Jersey Shore, and triggered more than 40,000 power outages across the state Friday afternoon and Friday evening.

Here’s a look at the highest wind gusts reported in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties on Friday:

Atlantic County

• 52 mph at Atlantic City International Airport
• 51 mph in Forsythe
• 48 mph at Atlantic City Marina
• 47 mph in Brigantine
• 45 mph in Pleasantville
• 44 mph in Pleasantville Point

Bergen County

• 56 mph at Teterboro Airport
• 47 mph in Lyndhurst

Burlington County

• 52 mph at McGuire AFB
• 48 mph at Coyle Field
• 47 mph at South Jersey Regional Airport
• 46 mph in Moorestown
• 41 mph in Tabernacle
• 40 mph in Silas Little
• 40 mph in Medford Village

Camden County

• 52 mph in Pennsauken
• 41 mph in Blue Anchor

Cape May County

• 50 mph in Avalon
• 49 mph in Cape May
• 49 mph in Cape May Harbor
• 46 mph in Wildwood
• 46 mph in Ocean City
• 42 mph in Woodbine
• 41 mph at Woodbine Municipal Airport
• 40 mph in North Wildwood

Cumberland County

• 48 mph in Fortescue
• 47 mph in Upper Deerfield
• 45 mph in Millville
• 44 mph in Greenwich
• 39 mph in Vineland

Essex County

• 60 mph in Belleville
• 59 mph at Newark Liberty Airport
• 45 mph in Caldwell

Gloucester County

• 60 mph in Logan Twp.
• 45 mph at Kingsway Regional H.S.
• 42 mph in West Deptford
• 41 mph in South Harrison

Hudson County

• 41 mph in Bayonne
• 40 mph in Jersey City 

Hunterdon County

• 47 mph in Pittstown
• 44 mph in Teetertown
• 40 mph in Milford

Mercer County

• 52 mph at Trenton Mercer Airport
• 48 mph in Hopewell Twp.
• 44 mph in Woodsville
• 43 mph in Ewing

Middlesex County

• 51 mph in Perth Amboy
• 47 mph in Carteret
• 47 mph in Deans (South Brunswick)
• 42 mph in East Brunswick
• 40 mph in New Brunswick

Monmouth County

• 56 mph in Sea Bright
• 56 mph in Keansburg
• 54 mph in Sea Girt
• 51 mph in Monmouth
• 46 mph in Cream Ridge
• 43 mph in Millstone Twp.
• 43 mph in Oceanport

Morris County

• 49 mph in Pompton Plains
• 46 mph in Morristown
• 41 mph at Pequannock Twp. High School
• 40 mph in Randolph

Ocean County

• 57 mph in Mantoloking
• 55 mph in Surf City
• 54 mph in Harvey Cedars
• 53 mph in Beach Haven
• 52 mph in Toms River
• 50 mph in North Beach Haven
• 49 mph in Berkeley Twp.
• 49 mph in Seaside Heights
• 49 mph at Rutgers
• 48 mph in Seaside Park
• 47 mph at Trixies Landing
• 46 mph in Tuckerton
• 46 mph in North Beach
• 43 mph in South Seaside Park

Passaic County

• 44 mph in Charlotteburg 
• 30 mph in Little Falls

Salem County

• 52 mph in Lower Alloways Creek
• 44 mph in Mannington Twp.

Somerset County

• 47 mph in Franklin Twp.
• 44 mph in Somerville
• 41 mph in Hillsborough
• 41 mph in Manville

Sussex County

• 63 mph at High Point Monument
• 50 mph in Hardyston Twp.
• 41 mph in Sussex

Union County

• 59 mph at Newark Liberty Airport
• 49 mph in Linden

Warren County

• 47 mph in Stewartsville
• 40 mph in Blairstown
• 39 mph in Hackettstown

Current weather radar

PHILADELPHIA – A Powerball ticket sold in Pennsylvania matched five numbers in Wednesday night’s drawing, winning $1 million, according to lottery officials.

What we know:

The Pennsylvania ticket was one of several nationwide that matched all five white balls. The ticket did not include the Power Play multiplier.

Because no one matched all six numbers, the Powerball jackpot continues to climb. The next drawing will feature an estimated $1.5 billion jackpot, with a cash option of $689.3 million.

Winning numbers (Dec. 17, 2025)

• 25 – 33 – 53 – 62 – 66
• Powerball: 17
• Power Play: 4x

The Pennsylvania Lottery has not yet announced where the winning ticket was sold.

What’s next:

The next Powerball drawing takes place Saturday night, Dec. 20. The estimated jackpot is an astounding $1.5 billion.