{"id":89900,"date":"2023-02-08T16:14:49","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T22:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=89900"},"modified":"2023-02-08T16:14:49","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T22:14:49","slug":"89900","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=89900","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

AR-15 ban, waiting period advance at New Mexico Capitol<\/a><\/p>\n

SANTA FE \u2014 A proposal to ban AR-15-style rifles in New Mexico began moving through the Roundhouse on Tuesday as Democratic legislators pursue aggressive new gun-control measures intended to address mass shootings and other crime.<\/p>\n

On a series of party-line votes, members of a House committee advanced legislation to establish a two-week waiting period for firearm purchases and prohibit the sale and possession of certain semiautomatic rifles and handguns.<\/p>\n

The ban would go into effect in March 2024, with some exemptions for people who already have the prohibited firearms.<\/p>\n

Republican lawmakers and other opponents who crammed into a packed committee room to testify on the proposals said the restrictions would interfere with the rights of law-abiding citizens and do nothing to deter crime.<\/p>\n

Supporters showed up in force, too, and a crowd filled the hallway as people waited for a seat.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rep. Andrea Romero, a Santa Fe Democrat and co-sponsor of the bills, said the legislation would reduce suicide by establishing a \u201ccooling off\u201d period for gun purchases and help prevent the massacre of children at schools by removing \u201cweapons of war\u201d from city streets.
\n\u201cThis essentially is a mass-shootings prevention bill,\u201d Romero said.<\/p>\n

Opponents said the proposals would keep domestic violence victims from arming themselves in an emergency and would restrict the rights of gun enthusiasts who legally bought their firearms.<\/p>\n

One rancher called the proposals a \u201cdeclaration of war\u201d on gun owners.<\/p>\n

\u201cA right delayed is a right denied,\u201d San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari said. \u201cThis is going to prevent people from protecting themselves against their aggressors.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s go after the bad guys, not law abiding citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park, said the proposed restrictions would abridge people\u2019s right to self defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bill is hugely problematic for me on so many levels,\u201d she said of the proposed ban.<\/p>\n

Supporters also helped fill the room. Allen S\u00e1nchez, executive director of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged lawmakers to keep in mind the damage caused by shootings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bury the victims,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are real people with real mourning families.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed 14-day waiting period is contained in House Bill 100.<\/p>\n

A separate proposal, House Bill 101, would ban the sale and possession of \u201cassault weapons\u201d \u2014 defined as semiautomatic rifles and handguns with certain characteristics \u2014 but with a grandfather clause.<\/p>\n

Among the items restricted would be a semiautomatic rifle with a detachable magazine and a pistol grip.<\/p>\n

People who owned the prohibited firearms before the law took effect could keep them but would face limits on where they could take them. They would have to submit paperwork to the state.<\/p>\n

Possession would be permitted, for example, at firing ranges and sport shooting competitions.<\/p>\n

The proposals considered Tuesday are still at an early stage. They passed the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on identical 4-2 votes and head next to the House Judiciary Committee, potentially their final step before reaching the full chamber.<\/p>\n

House approval would send the bills to the Senate. To reach the governor\u2019s desk, the bills must navigate both chambers by noon March 18.<\/p>\n

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham praised Tuesday\u2019s action on the assault weapons ban.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a firm believer in responsible gun ownership \u2014 that\u2019s not up for debate,\u201d she said in a statement after the vote. \u201cBut the fact of the matter is that our communities, our families and our law enforcement are put at risk every single day when weapons of war fall into the wrong hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also advancing at the Capitol this session are proposals to ban firearms at polling places, raise the minimum age for gun purchases to 21 and prohibit the sale of hollow-point bullets.<\/p>\n

New Mexico\u2019s firearm fatality rate is among the nation\u2019s highest.<\/p>\n

A total of 562 state residents died in 2021 due to firearm-related injuries \u2014 up significantly from 481 firearm-related deaths in 2020, according to state Department of Health data.<\/p>\n

Of that number, more than half \u2014 or 319 cases \u2014 were classified as suicides and 243 were classified as homicides.<\/p>\n

Dan Boyd of Journal Capitol Bureau contributed to this article.<\/p>\n

Gun bills advancing at Capitol<\/strong><\/p>\n

Senate Bill 171:<\/strong>\u00a0Prohibit sale or transfer of semiautomatic pistols with certain characteristics, machine guns, short-barrel rifles and shotguns, and hollow-point bullets or other ammunition that designed to explode or segment on impact.<\/p>\n

House Bill 9:<\/strong>\u00a0Make it a crime to store a firearm in a way that negligently disregards the ability of a minor to access it. Criminal charges could be brought only if the minor later brandishes or displays the firearm in a threatening way or uses it to kill or injure someone. Advanced past two committees, awaiting action by full House.<\/p>\n

House Bill 100:<\/strong>\u00a0Establish a 14-day waiting period for the purchase of a firearm.<\/p>\n

House Bill 101:<\/strong>\u00a0Prohibit sale or possession of assault weapons.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 44:<\/strong>\u00a0Prohibit carrying a firearm within 100 feet of a polling place during an election.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 116:<\/strong>\u00a0Raise the minimum age to 21 for purchasing an automatic or semiautomatic firearm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AR-15 ban, waiting period advance at New Mexico Capitol SANTA FE \u2014 A proposal to ban AR-15-style rifles in New Mexico began moving through the Roundhouse on Tuesday as Democratic legislators pursue aggressive new gun-control measures intended to address mass shootings and other crime. On a series of party-line votes, members of a House committee … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-rkba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89900"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89901,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89900\/revisions\/89901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}