New Mexico is kicking off its 2024 legislative term with a number of gun control bills that the NRA is already teeing up to battle in court, Fox News Digital has learned.
“Extremist Governor Lujan Grisham and her allies have unleashed a barrage of gun control proposals that punish the lawful … while ignoring criminals. Last year, Lujan Grisham effectively suspended the Second Amendment by denying citizens their right to carry and self-defense,” NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) Executive Director Randy Kozuch told Fox News Digital.
“Now, she’s doubling down on her attacks, effectively torching the Constitution with her latest gun control insanity.”
Lujan Grisham held her State of the State address Tuesday afternoon and called for the passage of a gun safety package she said would better protect residents from crime and violence, especially children.
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A handgun in front of the New Mexico flag (NRA)
“I’m calling for a gun safety package. It bans assault weapons, raises the legal purchase for all guns to 21, institutes a 14-day waiting period, increasing penalties for felons in possession of a firearm, keeps guns out of parks and playgrounds and allows law enforcement officers to now file extreme risk protection orders,” Lujan Grisham said Tuesday.
“I want to be very clear: No responsible gun owner should be punished or prevented from exercising their right. And no child should ever be put in danger by a weapon of war, especially one wielded by a person who can’t pass a background check or can’t wait two weeks to get a firearm.”
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Lujan Grisham’s remarks came after the governor was repeatedly interrupted by protesters with videos on social media showing protesters wearing “cease-fire now” shirts, referring to the war in Israel.
There are six gun control bills filed in the state House and Senate this legislative season and an “assault weapons ban” that has not yet been introduced but is detailed in a recent press release from the governor as a bill aimed at regulating “the manufacture, possession and sale of weapons of war, most often the gun used in mass casualty event.”
Lujan Grisham announced her “public safety legislative agenda” last week, which she described as the “largest” safety package in New Mexico history, while pinning blame on gun violence for recent crime trends.
Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaks Aug. 9, 2023, in Belen, N.M. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
“This is, without a doubt, the largest and most comprehensive public safety package in our state’s history,” Lujan Grisham said last week of the package, according to a press release. “Gun violence is a significant contributor to the cycles of crime in our communities, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to end this epidemic.
“Likewise, we will strengthen our support for law enforcement, increase penalties for violent crimes and, once again, pursue legislation to keep violent offenders behind bars pending trial. All of this will build upon the progress and investments we’ve made in previous years.”
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In the New Mexico House, four bills have already been filed, including House Bill 27, which would expand the state’s red flag confiscation laws to allow law enforcement and health officials to report a person’s potentially harmful behavior, which could require the individual to surrender guns to authorities.
AR-15 style rifles are displayed for sale at a gun store. (Reuters/Bing Guan/File Photo)
House Bill 114, if passed, would allow the New Mexico attorney general or local district attorneys to file lawsuits against the gun industry for injunctive relief and civil penalties.
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The other two bills, House Bill 127 and House Bill 129, would prohibit anyone under the age of 21 from purchasing and possessing a semi-automatic weapon and increase the waiting period on gun purchases to 14 business days, respectively. The NRA-ILA notes on its website that if House Bill 129 passes, New Mexico would have the longest gun purchase waiting period in the nation.
The Senate has introduced its own version of a bill that would impose a 14-business day waiting period on gun purchases and a bill that would impose an 11% excise tax on guns, gun parts, suppressors and ammunition. The tax bill, styled after a similar California law that takes effect later this year, would collect the tax from gun retailers and place the funds in a victims reparation fund and a fund for abused children and families.
President Biden, right, and Michelle Lujan Grisham, governor of New Mexico, on stage during a New Mexico Democrats rally in Albuquerque Nov. 3, 2022. (Malcolm/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“As a clear enemy of the Second Amendment and our self-defense rights, Governor Lujan Grisham is already being challenged by the NRA in the New Mexico Supreme Court. We remain on the front lines, ready to combat each and every one of her new oppressive gun control measures. The NRA stands with freedom-loving New Mexicans against Lujan Grisham’s assault,” Kozuch said.
Lujan Grisham came under fierce condemnation last year after signing an emergency public health order that temporarily suspended open and concealed carry across Albuquerque and the surrounding county.
The NRA responded with a lawsuit in the state’s Supreme Court, arguing the order was unconstitutional, which earned unanimous support from GOP state House and Senate members and retired law enforcement officers, the Republican Party of New Mexico and the Libertarian Party of New Mexico.
As the number of lawsuits increased over the order, New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, a Democrat, distanced himself from the governor, telling her he would not defend her administration in court. Other Democrats also spoke critically of the measure, as did gun control activist and Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg.
Lujan Grisham said when she announced the order she anticipated legal challenges and raised eyebrows over her remarks on the Constitution.
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“No constitutional right, in my view, including my oath, is intended to be absolute,” Lujan Grisham responded to a reporter in September when asked whether it’s “unconstitutional” to prevent Americans from exercising their right to bear arms.
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