Firearm sale waiting period, polling places ban take effect in May
Starting in a month and a half, most New Mexicans will have to wait a week to buy a gun and won’t be allowed to openly carry near polling places while voting is going on.
These are New Mexico’s newest gun laws, signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on March 4 and set to go into effect May 15.
At least 10 gun safety or restriction bills were deemed germane to the 2024 session. Only two firearm bills made it through in the end.
Miranda Viscoli is the co-president of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence. She said getting gun-related bills like the waiting period legislation through a 30-day budget session was a heavy lift.
“I look at this session as a huge success,” she said.
The two firearm bills Lujan Grisham signed exempt people who have concealed carry licenses.
It’s something that slightly appeased lawmakers and gun advocacy organizations opposed to the bill, including the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association. Zachary Fort, legislative affairs officer for the association, said while both bills either infringe or delay New Mexicans’ rights, the exemptions are appreciated.
“Our general rule of thumb as an organization is anything that would interfere with that right — under the Constitution, as defined in Heller, McDonald and Bruin — we are opposed to,” he said.
Lujan Grisham also pushed for broader gun bills to pass this year, like measures to ban assault weapons and only allow purchases of automatic and semiautomatic weapons for adults at least 21 years old. Those efforts died in the Roundhouse.
Weeklong waiting period
House Bill 129 creates a sevenday waiting period for firearm sales.
It doesn’t apply to people trying to buy a gun who have a New Mexico concealed carry license, those who have a federal firearms license, law enforcement agencies or officers authorized to carry a gun and sales between immediate family members.
The weeklong waiting period includes time needed for the FBI to complete a background check.
Most checks are instant, but federal statute allows gun sales to go through if a check isn’t completed in three days. New Mexico’s new waiting period law extends that timeframe, specifying that if the check isn’t done within 20 days, the gun sale is allowed to go through.
Viscoli said the law will help reduce suicides and crimes of passion. It also allows more time to get domestic violence perpetrators listed in the federal background check system, and makes it harder for gun shows to exist in New Mexico, she said.
“Anytime we can buy more time is well bought,” she said.
Fort said while the law doesn’t interfere with someone’s ability to own a gun, it delays someone trying to exercise their rights. He said the seven days also felt arbitrary, something lawmakers talked about during the session, too.
Violations of the law will be considered misdemeanors.
No open carry near polling places
Senate Bill 5 prohibits the possession of firearms within 100 feet of polling places and within 50 feet of drop boxes.
The ban applies while voting is in progress during early voting or on election days.
Similar to the seven-day waiting period bill, there are exemptions. The law doesn’t apply to people who have a concealed handgun license, law enforcement officers on duty or certified by the Law Enforcement Training Act and people in private cars.
Viscoli said it’s very easy to get a concealed carry permit and not know much about handling a firearm. In contrast, Fort said New Mexico has some of the more stringent requirements for concealed carry permits in the country, requiring class time and firearm proficiency.
Fort said carrying a firearm, in general, isn’t an act of intimidation, but someone concealing a weapon isn’t intimidating anyone.
Unlawful possession of a firearm at a polling place will be considered a petty misdemeanor.