Following a rash of gun violence across the state and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s efforts to curb it, the 2024 legislative session’s theme seems to be firearm regulation.
One bill related to firearm regulation passed the Senate Rules Committee Wednesday.
SB 5 seeks to ban people from carrying firearms at or near polling places.
“As we head into another turbulent election cycle, I think having consistency when it comes to banning guns and polling places is important,” Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, the bill’s sponsor, said.
Wirth said constituents working as poll workers brought the topic to him.
The bill allows certified law enforcement officers or authorized security personnel to have firearms at polling places and prohibits anyone else from carrying a firearm, loaded or unloaded within 100 feet of any voting location or 50 feet of a postal collection box or a monitored secured container.
Anyone who is found guilty to be unlawfully in possession of a firearm near a polling place will be charged with a petty misdemeanor.
The bill passed the SRC on a party-line 7-to-4 vote with all four Republicans on the Committee voting against the bill.
After the meeting, Senate Minority Leader Greg Baca, R-Belen, issued a statement.
“This unnecessary bill is predicated on anecdotes and it’s clear that the real intent is to roll back the Second Amendment one chip at a time,” Baca said in the statement, “ Given the rampant crime and violence gripping our streets, the right of our people to defend themselves is more important than ever and we continue our steadfast fight to uphold that right.”
Baca is a member of the Senate Rules Committee.
A similar bill passed the Senate last year but did not pass the House.