By Hannah Grover
Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, said it is not difficult for people to go online and find parts intended to convert firearms into automatic weapons, which are illegal in the United States. While on the Senate floor, he listed a few of the websites that offer these products.
Now he is pushing legislation that could create penalties for such sales.
Senate Bill 18 would allow New Mexico to regulate firearms and destructive devices under the Unfair Practices Act. Under SB 318, these websites could face civil penalties, such as fines.
SB 318 passed the Senate on a 21-18 vote Tuesday and now must move through the House of Representatives with only days left in the session.
“The goal of this bill is straightforward: making sure that those who manufacture, distribute, market, and sell weapon conversion devices are held liable for the consequences of doing so,” Cervantes said in a statement. “Near to my district, we all remember the Walmart El Paso mass shooting, a man driving hundreds of miles specifically to El Paso to kill Mexicans and relying on one of these so-called ‘Glock switches.’ You shouldn’t be able to take a Glock and convert a handgun to shoot 40 rounds a second. And it’s not just mass carnage these weapons can inflict; I think back to our law enforcement – there’s no reason why our law enforcement should be out in the streets out-gunned by their adversaries.”
Republicans including Sen. Ant Thornton, R-Sandia Park, and Senate Minority Floor Leader William Sharer, R-Farmington, argued that SB 318 is too broad and could impact e-commerce outside of the firearms sector.
“We’re talking about a gun bill that doesn’t have anything to do with guns, really, it has to do everything to do with suing anybody for any reason, if we can find the smallest reason that it might have possibly been unfair to somebody, somewhere,” Sharer said.
Sen. Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho, argued that SB 318 will enrich lawyers at the expense of New Mexicans.
“These lawyers…are not making our lives safer,” he said. “Common sense does that. This is nothing but a money grab bill and everybody knows it.”
Sen. Nicole Tobiassen, R-Albuquerque, argued that SB 318 will raise insurance premiums on small business owners that rely on online commerce.
“We’re not open for business in New Mexico, we’re closed. This bill is the nail in the coffin for every single one of us, and I’m absolutely outraged,” she said.
Cervantes addressed claims that the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association brought SB 318 to him.
“They had nothing to do with writing it, they had nothing to do with the idea,” he said. “This is entirely my effort to try and address gun violence in New Mexico by recognizing that our law enforcement officers are on the streets against people that are armed with automatic weapons.”
Cervantes doesn’t know a gun from a pile of BS> “.’ You shouldn’t be able to take a Glock and convert a handgun to shoot 40 rounds a second.” there is no gun in the world except for the military rotary barrel one that shoots 40 rounds per second. And interestingly it is not considered an automatic weapon because it does so through multiple barrels. Since conversion devices are illegal under FEDERAL law there is no reason to add any such law to NM laws. Total Democrat hatred of any firearm.
First lie, a converted gun, or any automatic gun can’t shoot 40 rounds a second. Cervantes needs to state fact, not lies. He has to resort to lies to try and pass this bad bill.
Good Bill. Our Police department should not be expected to serve and protect when they are out gunned. There is no good reason or justification for an automatic firearm.
If you want to lesson the penalty for shooting at an officer of the law or shooting at any officer of a dully authorized government agency then reinstate the firing squad as mandatory punishment. That might deter criminals from raising a gun. Saves millions on jail and court also. You can regulate citizens was laws etc. but you won’t deter the criminals that are coming up through the ranks of crime.
Maybe enforce the laws on the books, remove leftist DA’s and Judges who put criminals back on the streets,
Fantastic idea! Let’s make something that’s illegal, illegal again!