CONCORD — Two professors who say New Hampshire ranks first in their study of personal freedom told a few dozen listeners Monday the state can still do better.

Although its gun laws “are among the most liberal in the country,” for example, the Mercatus Center findings say the state should repeal a law that requires a concealed weapon permit to carry a firearm in a car. The study also calls for an end to sobriety checkpoints and regulation of private and home-schools.

Critics of the findings charged that the authors’ definition of “freedom” is arbitrary, and that their work is funded by the billionaire libertarians, David and Charles Koch, through a center at George Mason University.

Report authors William Ruger and Jason Sorens said they think the state could also improve ranking on their freedom scale by cutting back asset seizure by law enforcement, easing laws on campaign finance and occupational licensing, and by speeding school choice programs by providing property tax credits for scholarship donations.

“You guys can set the bar here for other states,” Sorens said.

Ruger said New Hampshire “is one of the best places in the nation to live… but I think it can be better.”

Chas Proulx of Exeter, one of several critics at a discussion of the report, said it has only “the trappings of a scientific study … You are only measuring your conception of freedom.”

He said both men are espousing taxpayer freedom on one hand while collecting salaries as academics at state universities in Texas and New York.

The Mercatus findings are based on review of state laws in effect through 2009 that affect economic and personal freedom as well as each state’s regulatory powers. The review was conducted while Democrats controlled the state Legislature and governor’s office.

“Under unified Democratic control in 2007-2008 the state saw a respectable increase in freedom,” the report states. It cites a civil unions law, decreasing government debt and low liquor prices as praiseworthy.

The report said it thinks the state’s “marijuana laws are middling,” and favors decriminalization for possession of small amounts.

Rep. Andrew Manuse, R-Derry, said the state’s rank at 18 on regulatory issues is “quite terrible.” He said administrative licensing boards need to relinquish power and allow more competition.

Victoria Parmele of Northwood said the state “has struck a good balance. I worry about the effect on the state that uses this study for a guide … It’s naïve to think you can keep cutting government.”

After the last few months of Republican control of the Legislature, she said, “I think we’ve gone far enough.”