SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A bill that would make it a crime to store a firearm in a way that allows a child to access it has narrowly passed the New Mexico House of Representatives, with rural Democrats joining Republicans in voting against the measure.
The House endorsed the legislation on a 37-32 vote Thursday, sending it to the Senate. It’s one of several gun control bills making their way through the Legislature as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle look for ways to fight crime and reduce violence.
The bill is named for 13-year-old Bennie Hargrove, who was fatally shot by a fellow student at an Albuquerque middle school in 2021. Authorities said that student brought his father’s gun to school.
Rep. Pamelya Herndon of Albuquerque, one of five Democrats sponsoring the bill, said during a lengthy debate Thursday that the measure was designed to “save our children’s lives.”
Supporters say the legislation would help keep guns out of the hands of youth who might recklessly shoot them or use them to harm another.
Opponents say the bill inappropriately targets law-abiding gun owners and might violate constitutional rights. They also say it's vague when it comes to scenarios where responsible gun owners have to lock up firearms they may need for home protection.
Republican Rep. Stefani Lord of Sandia Park said the language in the bill does not provide gun owners an understanding of what conduct would be illegal. She added that it could endanger someone who needs quick access to a firearm for protection.
“It’s not fair to the survivors of domestic violence who fear for their life,” Lord said.
Herndon argued the bill would not violate constitutional rights and would not require firearms be locked up, just that they be “kept in a manner in which a child cannot access it.”
The legislation would make it a crime to store a firearm in a way that negligently disregards the ability of a minor to access it. Criminal charges could be brought only if the minor later brandishes or displays the firearm in a threatening way or uses it to kill or injure someone.
The bill includes some exceptions intended to protect good-faith efforts to safely store a firearm.
A similar proposal last year failed when it was blocked in a House committee.
Herndon held a news conference before Thursday’s floor session in which Hargove’s grandmother, Vanessa Sawyerr, recalled the day he died and said the boy's two younger sisters — who are now 13 — are afraid to go to school.
“They’re not the same little girls I used to know,” she said.