Lawmakers endorse gun law proposals

Lawmakers grappling with the issue of gun violence endorsed a number of proposals — including imposing a 14-day waiting period to purchase a gun and prohibiting carrying or using guns near an Election Day polling site — at a committee meeting Tuesday at the Capitol.

The endorsements made by members of the interim Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee don't necessarily mean the bills will win enough support to pass during next year's legislative session, But they do put a spotlight on legislation that could be heard during the 30-day window, which this year will largely be devoted to budget issues.

However, the committee declined to endorse a bill prohibiting anyone under the age of 21 from buying, owning or using an automatic or semiautomatic weapon. Nor did it endorse legislation allowing residents to sue gun manufacturers if weapons they produced are used in a shooting.

Though there was not much debate on either of those two proposals, committee members raised enough questions about the writing of the bills to suggest they were not ready for consideration.

Though earning an endorsement does not mean success once the session begins in mid-January, not getting an endorsement could hurt a bill's chance for obtaining Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's support.

"If you don't get a message [from the governor on a bill], we're out of the game completely," Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe said.

The hearing played out against the backdrop of gun legislation the governor endorsed last week. At a news conference Monday, Lujan Grisham said she would favor an assault weapons ban that mirrors legislation U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich is co-sponsoring in Congress. His bill would regulate firearms based on the "lethality" of their internal mechanisms.

Guns and gun violence have been a key theme for the governor in the past several months, and polling shows crime to be a concern for many. A KRQE News 13 poll conducted by Emerson College Polling in late 2022 found more than 65% of the 1,000 New Mexicans surveyed believed crime had risen, including 54% of Democrats and more than 80% of Republicans.

Almost half of those polled said they either knew someone who had been victimized by a home or vehicle break-in over the past year or had been a victim themselves.

Committee members briefly discussed potential legislation banning assault weapons in the state. Rep. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe said she plans to fashion and introduce a bill similar to legislation favored by the governor.

Romero said in an interview after the hearing stemming gun violence involving assault weapons "has become a priority for so many of us. We're seeing tragedy after tragedy unfold (because of these weapons)."

Efforts to pass a bill banning such weapons in the legislative session earlier this year failed to gain traction as critics and advocates for Second Amendment rights argued those laws are unconstitutional and would lead to legal challenges.

The interim committee reviewed about 30 bills Tuesday, some related to gun safety measures and others linked to issues like increasing salaries for judges and protecting children under the oversight of the state Children, Youth and Families Department.

For the most part, lawmakers from both major political parties refrained from quarreling with one another about the best way to combat crime.

There wasn't much heated debate about most of the potential bills — though Republican lawmakers expressed Second Amendment right concerns with a bill that would prohibit firearms within a 100-foot distance of a polling site.

Wirth said he is pushing the legislation after hearing from poll workers in Santa Fe who felt threatened by voters who showed up with guns. He said the legislation would work the same way current laws prohibiting the carry or use of firearms within 100 feet of public schools.