Gov. unveils bills that ban assault weapons and raise age to possess a gun

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced support for several bills that she said were aimed at gun violence — banning assault weapons, raising the age to possess a gun and extend the waiting period to take it home.

“We have a gun problem, ladies and gentleman, and we have a public safety problem,” she said Friday morning, surrounded by public safety officials, law enforcement and the bill’s sponsors. “We have a responsibility to our children, to families, communities to solve it and i believe this package goes a long way to do just that.”

One bill would ban assault weapons statewide, another would raise the minimum age to buy a gun, from 18 to 21 years old, and extend the waiting period to take one home from 3 to 14 days.

The bills were just a few of dozens related to public safety that will come up in the legislative session, which begins on Tuesday.

At least two of the initiatives Lujan Grisham highlighted Friday reflected failed legislation from last session.

House Bill 101, which would have prohibited people from possessing assault weapons, and House Bill 100, which would have established a 14-day waiting period for gun sales, both died in committee before making it to the House floor.

The gun bills announced Friday come months after Lujan Grisham enacted an ongoing public health order to tackle gun violence — declaring it a public health emergency — following the shooting death of an 11-year-old after leaving an Isotopes baseball game.

The governor initially included a ban on publicly carrying firearms in Bernalillo County, but that was trimmed back — to only include parks and playgrounds — after a federal judge issued an order blocking the ban.

Republicans were quick to respond to the bills announced Friday morning.

Sen. Greg Baca, R-Belen, the Senate Republican Leader, said the governor “took a hyper-partisan turn with the announcement of several anti-2nd Amendment measures targeting New Mexico gun owners who only want to protect themselves and their families.”

“Let’s be clear — if the Governor and other democrats were half as hard on criminals as they are on law-abiding citizens, our communities would already be much safer,” Baca said in a statement. “Enough with the false solutions. Let’s enforce the laws we have, keep dangerous criminals behind bars and give law enforcement the tools they need to do their jobs.”