SANTA FE — A proposal to ban the sale or transfer in New Mexico of certain kinds of semiautomatic handguns and bullets that fragment on impact narrowly advanced past its first legislative committee Monday even as some supporters raised questions about the legislation.
The bill cleared the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee on a party-line vote, with Democrats in favor.
One of the supporters, Democratic Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez of Albuquerque, urged the sponsor to take steps to narrow the bill as it moves through the Legislature to ensure it can withstand a legal challenge on constitutional grounds.
And another Democratic senator, Bill Tallman of Albuquerque, said the bill wasn’t likely to make much difference because the root problem is that the United States is “gun crazy” and has too many firearms.
The proposal, Senate Bill 171, passed the committee on a 5-3 vote. It now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee, potentially its final stop before reaching the full Senate.
The sponsor of the proposal, Sen. William Soules, D-Las Cruces, said he proposed the bill in response to the massacre of children at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, last year.
He showed some willingness to address the concerns raised by opponents and supporters, agreeing, for example, to an amendment that removed firearm mufflers from the bill.
But Soules also defended it as a constitutionally permissible way to address mass shootings. It would ban the sale — but not possession — of certain weapons.
Opponents said the bill would restrict the sale of ammunition commonly used in hunting and interfere with firearm purchases for the military and law enforcement.
They also said the bill’s prohibition on transfers — not just sales — would prohibit a family member from inheriting certain weapons or ammunition after a relative dies.
“I’m speechless for how bad this bill really is,” Sen. David Gallegos, R-Eunice, said.
The bill would prohibit the sale, acquisition and transfer of machine guns, semiautomatic pistols with certain characteristics, rifles with barrels under 16 inches, shotguns with barrels under 18 inches; and ammunition designed to fragment on impact.
