Late Friday evening, the New Mexico House Judiciary Committee approved Bloomberg-backed House Bill 50, sponsored by state Representative Stephanie Garcia Richard (D-Los Alamos), along a 7-6 party line vote. Thank you to the members of the committee who opposed this intrusive, ineffective and unenforceable gun control measure: House Minority Leader Nate Gentry (R-ABQ), Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R-Carlsbad), Rep. Zach Cook (R-Ruidoso), Rep. Jim Dines (R-ABQ), Rep. Greg Nibert (R-Roswell), and Rep. Bill Rehm (R-ABQ).
The bill author offered, and the committee adopted, a substitute bill which is actually worse than the original legislation! While the restrictions on temporary gun transfers in HB 50 as introduced contained poorly-worded and inadequate exceptions for hunting, competitions, shooting range activities, and some self-defense situations, those exemptions are GONE. Instead, the measure now contains a blanket requirement that any transfer or loan of a firearm lasting more than five days be conducted through a federal firearm licensed dealer – which will involve government paperwork, a background check and payment of an undetermined fee.
If you plan to let a friend borrow your rifle for a week-long hunting trip or shooting competition, it would require a trip to an FFL. If you want to provide your girlfriend a handgun for protection while you’re gone on an extended business trip, you must get government permission. If you are a military service member who has been deployed and wishes to leave personal firearms with a trusted friend, you would have to go through the same process. Fail to do so and you could face up to just under a year in prison and up to a $1,000 fine, or both. A second violation carries a felony penalty and loss of firearm rights. Further, the bill continues to limit your ability to sell your own guns to non-immediate family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers and fellow gun club members.
Bloomberg’s national gun control organization, Everytown for Gun Safety, has targeted New Mexico with a campaign of misinformation and their radical restrictions on how you sell or transfer your private property. They will make a full push for passage of this measure in the House next week, so it is critical that your state Representatives hear from you!
Please click the "Take Action" button above to contact them and urge them to OPPOSE the Committee Substitute for HB 50. If you don’t know who your House member is, please click here.
In addition to the dozens of NRA members who stayed late on Friday to testify against HB 50, a special thank you also goes out to the following members of the pro-Second Amendment law enforcement community who attended the hearing in opposition to the bill: Sheriff Tony Mace and Undersheriff Michael Munk (Cibola County), Sheriff Louis Burkhard and Undersheriff Mark Shea (Valencia County), Sheriff Mike Lucero (Guadalupe County), Sheriff Raymond Gutierrez (Harding County), and Undersheriff Mark Reeves (Curry County). All 33 Sheriffs in New Mexico stand firmly in opposition to House Bill 50.
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