New Mexico Governor Wants Elected Officials to Push for Assault Weapons Ban in 2024

Following the New Mexico State government’s failure to implement several gun grabs during the 2023 legislative session, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced on April 5, 2023 that she plans to call on elected officials to reintroduce an assault weapons ban in New Mexico in 2024.
“I have committed to Rep. [Andrea] Romero that I have every intention of putting an assault weapons ban on the call in the 30-day session,” the governor said at a news conference at the State Capitol in Santa Fe.
“I’m expecting to get that done,” she continued.
Maddy Hayden, a spokeswoman for the Governor’s office, said in an email Lujan Grisham “believes unequivocally that public officials have a responsibility to do everything in their power to curb the scourge of gun violence — especially in an absence of action at the federal level — which is why she is committed to bringing this bill back up next year.”
In the meantime, Lujan Grisham noted that her administration will cooperate with legislators and other relevant actors to continue rallying support for the anti-gun measure.
The governor expressed her desire to reintroduce an assault weapons ban after being asked about a bill the state legislature passed in 2023 that lays the groundwork for funding security improvements at schools.
“I think we need more security measures in our schools, and I’m looking for a variety of opportunities even with some of the more generic funding in the capital bills about how that might move itself into better cameras, places were we do drop-offs and pickups that we know are a bit safer,” Lujan Grisham stated.
“If you aren’t still reeling from the elementary school shooting in Tennessee, I don’t understand, I don’t understand where you are,” she said, alluding to the March 27 shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennesville that left 6 people dead.
During her 2023 State of the State speech, Lujan Grisham pushed for an assault weapons ban. Although several legislative proposals to prohibit various types of rifles or restrict magazine capacity were put forward in the 2023 session, none of them were voted on in the House or Senate.
In all likelihood, New Mexico will pass this legislation without issue next go-round by virtue of the fact that it’s one of the most anti-gun states in the nation. According to Guns & Ammo magazine’s best states for gun owners rankings, it’s ranked in 34th place. With the way things are going in blue states, the Second Amendment will not be long for this world in those jurisdictions.
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