Bill expanding NM's red flag gun law advances with law enforcement support

SANTA FE — New Mexico’s red flag gun law continues to generate heated debate nearly five years after its 2020 approval.

A bill expanding the law that allows firearms to temporarily be taken away from those deemed a danger to themselves or others advanced Tuesday at the Roundhouse, but only after facing fierce opposition from gun rights advocates and Republican lawmakers.

After several hours of debate that featured numerous hypothetical questions from GOP legislators, the bill passed the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on a party-line 4-2 vote.

Specifically, House Bill 12 would clarify that law enforcement officers can directly initiate a court petition — instead of waiting for someone else to contact them.

“There’s an ambiguity in the law that we’re trying to address,” said Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, one of the measure’s sponsors.

The bill would also require that firearms be relinquished immediately upon a judge’s order, instead of within 48 hours.

Backers of the change say the 48-hour requirement puts law enforcement officers and others, including the subject of the order, at increased danger.

Several law enforcement officials testified Tuesday in support of the changes during the committee hearing, including State Police Deputy Chief Carolyn Huynh.

“I think we should all agree that certain people shouldn’t have firearms or have access to firearms,” said former Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe.

However, critics raised concerns about rogue law enforcement officers possibly abusing their expanded authority under the bill, while also renewing critiques about the underlying law itself.

“Such drastic measures not only infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens, they also infringe on due process,” said Anthony Sergura of the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association.

The red flag gun law, officially known as the Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act, was used infrequently in the two years following its 2020 approval. But utilization of the law increased over the last two years as law enforcement officers have received more training on its workings.

Statewide, the number of temporary firearm seizure petitions filed by law enforcement agencies has jumped from three petitions in 2021 to 90 petitions last year, said Rep. Joy Garratt, D-Albuquerque.

Of those 90 petitions, 86 were ultimately granted by a judge, she added.

New Mexico had the nation’s third-highest gun death rate as of 2022, behind only Mississippi and Louisiana, and gun-related hospital emergency department visits in the Albuquerque metro area increased by 22% over a recent two-year period.

However, the number of gun-related homicides and suicides in New Mexico decreased in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to data from the state’s Office of the Medical Investigator.

The measure now advances to the House Judiciary Committee.