(DailyDig.com) – New Mexico’s governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, signed legislation on March 4 that will ban some guns at drop boxes for ballots and voting locations. It also extends the waiting period to seven days instead of the three days required for the background check by federal law.
She also signed legislation that enhanced penalties for murder offenses. It gives judges a chance to deny bail to individuals who are being charged with additional crimes if they are waiting for a trial to start regarding a felony.
Peter Wirth, Senate Majority Leader, proposed the bill and stated that the polling places in schools already ban guns, so his bill would just extend it to all voting locations.
The law includes a prohibition on carrying a firearm closer than 100 feet from the voting location and drop boxes for ballots. It does exempt holders of a permit for concealed carry, agencies of law enforcement and their immediate families, licensees for federal firearms, and law enforcement transactions between officers.
Other exceptions include leaving the firearm in a person’s vehicle and a person legally carrying a gun near the voting locations if they are not entering the building or speaking to voters. Law enforcement personnel who are on duty are also exempt.
Lujan Grisham stated that this bill addresses both guns being in possession by the wrong people and the fact that violent criminals keep committing crimes over and over again. Even though the people who support this new law believe it will reduce violence in their state, the governor said that it is still not safe in New Mexico. She is thinking of bringing back the lawmakers to tackle more initiatives for public safety.
Ryan Lane, House Minority Leader from Aztec, stated that rather than restricting the rights of citizens who obey the law, other ways to reduce crime should be discussed. He thinks that services for mental health should be improved, reform the bail system, educate citizens on gun safety, and make the penalties stronger for a criminal’s misuse of any firearms.
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