A bill that would have, among other things, banned the sale and ownership of so-called “assault weapons” in New Mexico stalled in the state House of Representatives, which adjourned without considering the measure on the House floor.
Senate Bill 17 would have banned common gas-operated semi-automatic firearms, .50-caliber rifles virtually never used in crimes and firearm magazines holding more than 10 rounds under the guise of labeling them all “extremely dangerous weapons.” The measure passed the state Senate by a 21-17 vote, with all Republican senators and three Democrats voting against the bill.
The measure stated: The measure states: “‘Semiautomatic firearm’ means a firearm that is not a machine gun and that, upon initiating the firing sequence, fires the first chambered cartridge and uses a portion of the energy of the firing cartridge to extract the expended cartridge case, chamber the next round and prepare the firing mechanism to fire again and requires a separate pull, release, push or initiation of the trigger to fire each cartridge. ‘Semiautomatic firearm’ includes a semiautomatic rifle, semiautomatic shotgun or semiautomatic handgun.”
Along with the weapons ban, the sweeping bill also would have targeted the firearms industry by imposing excessive and costly bureaucratic mandates on local firearm dealers and compromised the privacy of lawful citizens through centralized record-keeping of purchaser identities and firearm serial numbers.
Zachary Fort, president of the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association, said that the measure would not have accomplished what sponsors claimed it would have.
“We are firmly opposed to specific bans on specific firearms,” Ford told the Albuquerque Journal. “We strongly believe that accountability needs to be for the people who commit acts of violence. The best way to do that is to … hold people accountable and not just kind of try to attempt to ban broad categories of firearms.”
The National Rifle Association (NRA), which had representatives actively lobbying against the bill since its introduction, was gratified that the measure never reached the House floor for a vote.
“Thank you to NRA members and Second Amendment advocates who took the time to contact their lawmakers and attend hearings,” NRA-ILA said in a news item on the measure. “Your advocacy matters. Your NRA will continue to monitor the situation on the ground and be back at the Round House next session in 2026 and any special sessions that may come up before then.”
Another anti-gun measure, Senate Bill 261, also failed to be approved before the legislative session adjourned. That bill would have transformed polling places into expanded “gun-free zones” where self-defense is criminalized. Most alarmingly, the bill would have struck the existing exemption for thousands of responsible citizens who hold a valid concealed handgun license, effectively disarming them the moment they step within the new, arbitrary 100-foot and 50-foot “no-carry” buffers around polling doors and ballot containers.
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