Today's action in Santa Fe saw three bad results and one good one. First, this morning in the House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs Committee, SB44, the ban on carrying an open or concealed firearm within 100ft of a polling place, passed on a party-line vote. That bill now heads to the House Judiciary Committee.
The second committee meeting was today's Senate Judiciary Committee meeting. The first bill they heard was HB9, the bill that imposes criminal penalties on a gun owner if a minor commits a crime or hurts someone with their gun. The bill passed on a party-line vote, but it was amended several times in the committee. Some of the changes were good, some were bad, but it will have to return to the House side for concurrence if it passes the Senate side. The next stop for the bill is the Senate Finance Committee. The second gun bill the committee heard was SB114, a bill we supported. SB114 would have updated New Mexico's concealed carry laws for the changes to New Mexico's liquor laws that were made in 2021. The bill would have expanded the types of alcohol a restaurant could serve and still allow patrons to concealed carry in it. That bill was tabled on a party-line vote.
Finally, in the good result of the day, SB171, the ban on the sale or transfer of many types of ammunition, NFA Firearms and certain semiautomatic pistols, was tabled in the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 6-3 vote. Three Democrats joined the Republicans on the committee in voting to table the bill. A tabled bill can be brought back up again, but at this point in the session, doing so is unlikely. Nevertheless, we will continue to watch the bill for the remainder of the session.
There are still a lot of bills we are watching, while none are scheduled for committee or floor votes at the moment, that can change very quickly. Please take the time to contact your State Representative to ask them to oppose HB100, the proposed 14-day waiting period for gun purchases. Here is a link to a pre-drafted email opposing the bill. |
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