NMSSA Legislative Update 2/24/23 UPDATE 2/25

With about three weeks to go in the 2023 Legislative Session, none of the bills we are watching were heard in committee or were voted on in a floor session. However, that will change next week.SB44, than ban on carrying open or concealed firearms with 100ft of a polling place while voting is underway, will be heard in the House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs Committee on Monday the 27th at 8:30am in Room 305 (Zoom Link). The bill passed the Senate side, so it is now starting to move on the House side. You can use this link to send a pre-drafted email to committee members opposing the bill.While we are still waiting on official confirmation, we have heard from several sources that the Senate Judiciary Committee will be hearing some of the anti-gun bills currently located in that committee on Monday. The bills currently in the committee waiting to be heard include HB9, the firearm owner criminal liability bill, SB116, the bill that bans anyone under the age of 21 from purchasing or possessing a semiautomatic firearm, and SB171, the ban on certain semiautomatic pistols, NFA Firearms, and many types of commonly used ammunition. Once the official schedule is released for Monday, we will send another update. But as they may not release it until Sunday, we wanted to alert you now. The meeting will be Monday afternoon, we will provide the Zoom link when we receive it.HB100, the 14-day waiting period bill is still waiting for a vote by the full Floor of the House. Why has it been there for a week with no vote yet? The vote is expected to be very close. This means we must to keep up the pressure against the bill. You can use this link to send a pre-drafted email to your state representative opposing the bill. Even if you have already contacted your state representative about the bill, please do so again.HB101, the ban on the sale of semiautomatic and .50 caliber rifles and registration of currently owned ones, is still in the House Judiciary Committee. The bill's sponsor is doing a third re-write of the bill. It is not currently on the committee's schedule, but it could be added last minute. We will send an update as soon as we have any info on what will happen.Neither SB427, a second version of a 14-day waiting period, nor SB428, the attempt to circumvent the PLCAA to make it easier to sue gun manufacturers and FFLs, have been heard in their first committee yet, the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee. Here are links you can use to send pre-drafted emails to committee members asking them to oppose the bills: Link for SB427, Link for SB428.Earlier this week, I spoke with Paul Gessing of the Rio Grande Foundation about the bills we have seen introduced in the 2023 Legislative Session. Here is a link to the podcast where I was able to do a little bit deeper dive on each of the bills introduced.

UPDATE 2/25:

The schedule for the Monday meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee was finally released this evening, two of the anti-gun bills in the committee will be heard on the 27th. HB9, the bill imposing criminal penalties on gun owners if a third-party minor uses their firearm to commit a crime or injure someone, will be heard. It already passed the House side, so it is making its way through the Senate side now. Here is a pre-drafted email you can send to your State Senator to oppose the bill. SB171, the bill banning the sale of certain semiautomatic pistols such as AR pistols, NFA firearms, and many types of commonly used ammunition, will also be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. Here is a pre-drafted email you can send to committee members asking them to oppose the bill. The committee meeting starts at 1:30pm, or half an hour after the floor session concludes, in Room 321 (Zoom Link).Additionally, SB114, a bill that we support, will also be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. The bill proposes a small, only a few words, change to New Mexico's concealed carry laws. After New Mexico's liquor laws were overhauled a few years ago, many restaurants that used to only sell beer and wine now sell other types of alcoholic drinks as well. This bill changes the language of Section 30-7-3 from: "a restaurant licensed to sell only beer and wine that derives no less than sixty percent of its annual gross receipts from the sale of food for consumption on the premises," to: "a restaurant licensed to sell spirituous liquors, cider, beer or wine that derives no less than sixty percent of its annual gross receipts from the sale of food for consumption on the premises." The bill strikes the word "only" and adds spirituous liquors and cider to the existing law. This change would allow individuals to once again concealed carry in restaurants they used to be able to carry in before the liquor laws were changed.SB44, the ban on carrying open or concealed firearms with 100ft of a polling place while voting is underway, will be heard in the House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs Committee on Monday the 27th at 8:30am in Room 305 (Zoom Link). The bill passed the Senate side, so it is now starting to move on the House side. You can use this link to send a pre-drafted email to committee members opposing the bill.