Lawmakers should take care with bills' wording

Three “tough-on-gun-crime” bills sponsored by Republican Rep. Bill Rehm, a retired Bernalillo County Sheriff’s captain, and backed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham deserve serious consideration by state lawmakers.

House Bill 35 would increase the sentencing enhancement for using a gun to commit a crime from one year to three years for a first offense, and from three years to five years for a second offense.

New Mexico SAFE — a coalition of faith-based, nonprofit and community groups — notes the bill would not give a judge discretion to suspend the enhanced prison time in favor of probation. But Albuquerque’s record murder rate last year proves those who use a gun to commit a crime show flagrant disregard for the safety of others.

House Bill 114 would make it a crime to carry a firearm while trafficking a controlled substance. While drug trafficking is already a second-degree felony, the bill would create a new third-degree felony crime with an additional three-year sentence.

Practically speaking, this bill is unlikely to change the nature and danger of drug deals, where one or more parties is often packing heat. But when teens are shot to death over a $40 marijuana debt, it’s time to send a message that drugs plus guns equal extra time in prison.

The third bill, House Bill 113, would change the crime of being a felon in possession of a firearm from a fourth-degree felony to a third-degree felony, meaning a basic sentence would double from 18 months to three years. It also would expand the definition of a “felon” to include anyone who has ever been convicted of a felony, instead of those who have completed a sentence in the past 10 years.

Lawmakers would do better to focus on those convicted of violent felonies — there is a huge difference between armed robbery and shoplifting, for example — and ensure the consequences fit the crimes.

Clearly, something must be done to curb the persistently high rates of violent crime in Albuquerque and other areas of the state. The governor says the three bills target “the worst of the worst,” paving the way for longer prison sentences for violent felons. Lawmakers should ensure the language in the bills truly matches that sentiment.

— Albuquerque Journal