Call it a 21-gun salute in the name of public safety.
Surrounded by a phalanx of state public safety officials, police officers and advocates pushing for efforts to reduce gun violence, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday unveiled a series of proposals she called the "largest, most comprehensive package ... in the history of the Legislature."
Many of the measures center on gun violence, which Lujan Grisham said "feels like it's impacting every corner around the globe."
Republican lawmakers said they support some of the crime bills the governor announced — such as a more rigorous pretrial detention system for defendants charged with violent crimes — but stood firm against gun control measures they decried as "anti-Second Amendment."
They also noted Democrats, not Republicans, often stand in the way of Lujan Grisham's tough-on-crime proposals.
Lujan Grisham said she has consulted with the Democratic caucus and supporters of the bills in her public safety package, and she feels "much better about Democrat support this year. ... I feel very confident, but we'll have to wait and see."
Most of the legislation she announced during a news conference at the state Capitol was not yet publicly available on the Legislature's website Friday. The following measures are among those the governor hopes to see pass during the 30-day legislative session that starts Tuesday:
- New penalties for possession of an assault weapon (a misdemeanor) and for being armed while committing or attempting to commit a felony (a fourth-degree felony).
- An increase in the legal age to purchase firearms, to 21 from 18.
- A 14-day waiting period for background checks to be finalized before the purchase of a firearm.
- A ban on panhandling in public spaces, streets, sidewalks and curbs.
- A recruitment fund for law enforcement, corrections officers and firefighters.
The governor also plans to push for legislation banning firearms in public parks and playgrounds.
Earlier this week, the state Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case challenging the governor's executive order last fall that prohibits people from carrying or using firearms in places where children play in the Albuquerque area. The court had not yet ruled on the issue as of Friday.
The governor said at the news conference she wants to get the order codified in state law regardless of how the Supreme Court rules. If justices favor the plaintiff, it will make no difference because "we will have a statute," she added.
Lujan Grisham said some of the bills she announced have bipartisan support.
One is a much-contested piece of legislation that would allow judges to order suspects charged with serious violent crimes to be jailed until their trial unless the pretrial detention is rebutted by "clear and convincing evidence." Similar legislation has been hotly debated in the past.
Advocates for the measure argue it is necessary to keep communities safe from dangerous defendants while they await trial. Opponents say it deprives people of their constitutional rights.
Second Judicial District Attorney Sam Bregman, his voice slowly filling with anger, said at the news conference "certain crimes are so violent in our community and threaten the safety of our community there should be" the right to hold some suspects until their trial.
In an interview after the news conference, Rep. Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho, said he is sponsoring the pretrial detention bill for Lujan Grisham. It is one of five crime-related bills he hopes she will approve for consideration during session, which is primarily focused on drafting a state budget for fiscal year 2025.
Senate Republicans are trying to work with the governor on many crime and public safety-related bills, Brandt said. However, he added, when it comes to restricting firearm use, "I will never support anything that clearly violates the constitutional rights of our citizens."
Brandt said crime "is the number one issue in our state, and the number one issue for our legislators."
"The question is, are we actually going to deal with the crime issue or violate people’s constitutional rights claiming it’s the crime issue," he added.
Senate Minority Leader Greg Baca, R-Belen, issued a news release after the conference that said his caucus is eager to join the governor "in tackling New Mexico’s crime epidemic, and to that end, we have introduced a number of commonsense solutions."
"Unfortunately, today’s press conference took a hyper-partisan turn with the announcement of several anti-2nd Amendment measures targeting New Mexico gun owners who only want to protect themselves and their families,” he wrote.
He added, "If the Governor and other Democrats were half as hard on criminals as they are on law-abiding citizens, our communities would already be much safer."
Brandt noted in the interview Democratic lawmakers, not Republicans, sometimes block the governor's public safety initiatives, like the pretrial detention bill.
Rep. Rod Montoya, R-Farmington, said at a GOP news conference Friday past Republican efforts to enact crime bills often have stalled in committee hearings run by Democrats in both the House of Representatives and in the Senate.
He said House Republicans plan to introduce many of those measures again this year and hope the governor will approve of putting them on the legislative docket.
Even if the governor backs the proposals, he said, he does "not expect any of them to get through the Democrat-controlled Legislature."
