SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE BILL 5

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO ELECTIONS; PROHIBITING THE POSSESSION OF A FIREARM WITHIN CERTAIN DISTANCES OF A POLLING PLACE DURING AN ELECTION; PROVIDING EXCEPTIONS; PROVIDING A PENALTY.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. A new section of Chapter 1, Article 20 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A FIREARM AT A POLLING PLACE.--

          A. Unlawful possession of a firearm at a polling place consists of possession of a loaded or unloaded firearm by any person within:

                (1) one hundred feet of the door through which voters may enter to vote at a school building in which a polling place is located while early voting is in progress and on election day;

                (2) one hundred feet of the door through which voters may enter to vote at the office of the county clerk, an alternate voting location, a mobile voting site or any location used as a polling place while early voting is in progress and on election day that is not a school; or

                (3) fifty feet of a monitored secured container as used in Subsection E of Section 1-6-9 NMSA 1978, beginning twenty-eight days before an election through election day.

          B. The provisions of Subsection A of this section do not apply to:

                (1) a certified law enforcement officer in performance of the officer's official duties;

                (2) a law enforcement officer who is certified pursuant to the Law Enforcement Training Act acting in accordance with the policies of the officer's law enforcement agency; or

                (3) a person in a private automobile or other private means of conveyance.

          C. A person conducting lawful, non-election-related business nearer than one hundred feet from the door through which voters may enter to vote or nearer than fifty feet from a monitored secured container is not guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm at a polling place.

          D. A person who commits unlawful possession of a firearm at a polling place is guilty of a petty misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978.

          E. For the purposes of this section, "firearm" means a weapon that will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosion, or the frame or receiver of any such weapon."

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