The New Mexico State Senate has approved a sweeping ban on common semi-automatic firearms legally owned and used by thousands of lawful citizens for sport, competition and self-defense.
The measure, Senate Bill 17, would ban common gas-operated semi-automatic firearms, .50-caliber rifles virtually never used in crimes and firearm magazines holding more than ten rounds under the guise of labeling them all “extremely dangerous weapons.” The measure passed by a 21-17 margin, with all Republican senators and three Democrats voting against the bill.
Startlingly, the definition of a “semi-automatic firearm” in the legislation takes in far more than just the AR-style rifles commonly focused on in such ban proposals.
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.”
The measure further explains that among the banned guns are any “gas-operated semiautomatic firearm that can accept a detachable magazine,” which encompasses nearly every semi-automatic handgun on the market.
Republican Senators, who had been fighting to defeat the bill but failed in doing so, explained that those passing the measure know it is unconstitutional but chose to vote for it anyway.
“Today, Democrats in Santa Fe decided that the rights of New Mexicans to protect themselves and their families should be eliminated,” Senate Minority Leader William Sharer said after the vote. “Listen to the words they say, they have repeatedly admitted this bill is unconstitutional, yet they are forcing it upon law-abiding citizens.
“New Mexicans deserve to be represented by elected officials who take their oaths of office seriously, not by activists who hate our Constitution and who promote fringe radical policies designed to undermine the very foundation of our Nation.”
Unfortunately for gun owners, the bill goes even further than banning guns and magazines in common use by New Mexicans. It also targets the firearms industry by imposing excessive and costly bureaucratic mandates on local firearm dealers, including invasive “site-hardening” security requirements and unrealistic 24-hour response deadlines for law enforcement trace requests.
Still not content with the damage their measure could cause, anti-gun Senate Democrats also included language in the measure that would compromise the privacy of lawful citizens through centralized record-keeping of purchaser identities and firearm serial numbers, while at the same time threatening dealers with felony charges for minor or technical compliance errors.
The measure now moves to the House of Representatives, where Democrats also hold a solid majority. If passed by the House, the only way to stop it would be for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to veto the bill—a long shot considering she has spoken out in favor of such a ban many times in the past.
In fact, following passage of the measure, Lujan Grisham stated in a news release from her office: “I am a firm believer in responsible gun ownership – that’s not up for debate. But the fact of the matter is that our communities, our families and our law enforcement are put at risk every single day when weapons of war fall into the wrong hands.”
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