Polling Place Gun Ban Awaits Signature

A second gun-reform bill awaits Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s signature following unanimous Senate concurrence for a House amendment Wednesday morning.

Firearms would be restricted in polling places under Senate Bill 5, which cleared the House late Tuesday with an added exemption for people with concealed-carry permits from Rep. William R. Rehm, R-Bernalillo. The Senate debated the same exemption before moving the bill to the House, but it didn’t garner enough votes.

Senate Minority Caucus Chair Mark Moores, R-Bernalillo, said after Wednesday’s vote that restricting firearms in polling places was something he was “willing to do from the beginning,” but wished the Senate considered the House amendment when he suggested it.

“This bill would have sailed through a long time ago,” Moores said. “We just passed an election bill and a gun bill unanimously in the Senate, so the burden of governance isn’t just on one party here. When we come together, we can do things much better. Think of how much better it will be in years to come if you work with the numbers on this side.”

Backers of the bill have said it is necessary in light of threatening elections environments for voters and poll workers alike. Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver’s Director of Communications Alex Curtas tells SFR SB5 “increases safety for voters, poll workers, and election administrators,” and noted incidents with armed individuals outside ballot drop boxes in Maricopa County, Arizona, as a recent example of why the state needs the law.

“Intimidation is an issue that election administrators are concerned about, both here in New Mexico and elsewhere,” Curtas says. “We think this law can help voters and administrators feel safer as they go about the business of democracy.”

Lujan Grisham also celebrated the bill’s passage in a news release late Wednesday afternoon.

“New Mexicans should be able to exercise their right to vote without fear of intimidation or, worse, violence,” she said in a statement. “This legislation solidifies what we already know: Guns do not belong at polling places.”

At the local level, Santa Fe County Clerk Katharine E. Clark tells SFR her office hears about guns often from both voters and poll workers, “though there are far more concerns than there has been actual incidents,” she clarifies.

“There have been a few sites and absentee processing areas where there has been open carry in the past and we heard from voters and poll workers that they felt and do feel intimidated by visible weapons,” Clark says.

House Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, noted he still disagreed with the concealed-carry exemption.

“I think having guns in polling places with the election cycle we’re going into is an incredibly important issue to be discussing,” Wirth said, adding he’s satisfied that the law disallows the carrying of long rifles into polling places. “Would I prefer that this amendment not be on there? I can’t say I wouldn’t, but I still think this is a very important bill in the mix.”

Despite advocacy from Lujan Grisham for additional proposals, the bill joins House Bill 129, a seven-day waiting period for firearms purchases, as the only gun reform measures to pass both chambers so far. The session ends Thursday at noon.

Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, told members that the government “didn’t do that much this session on guns,” adding he didn’t think guns in polling places are “a big problem,” nor should have the legislation been part of a “serious conversation about gun safety in our state.”

“There’s a little bit of ‘I told you so,’ but I want to pause to recognize this is one of two gun bills this session that look like they might have a chance to be signed into law,” Cervantes said. “Let’s not get too excited about what we accomplished. What did we really accomplish? This is not something we should sit here and tell ourselves we’ve done a lot in doing.”

House Bill 127, which would raise the legal age for firearm purchases to 21, and House Bill 137, which would ban gas-operated semi-automatic firearms, still await votes on the House floor and within the Senate if legislators want them to make it to Lujan Grisham’s desk.