House Bill 136

Another piece of legislation of interest:

HB 136 Cook (R56)
SHOOT ‘EM UP, COWBOY!
Analysis (new): In addition to the locations already permitted by law (includes restaurants), persons licensed to carry concealed handguns may carry them in:
• schools;
• universities;
• buses;
• state parks and recreation areas; and
• all licensed liquor establishments
Removes the restriction under current law that only one concealed handgun may be carried at a given time.
01/24/11—H Introduced and referred to House Consumer & Public Affairs.
01/24/11—H Also referred to House Education.
01/24/11—H Also referred to House Judiciary.

<Frank Barone> HOLY CRAP!

That will really be something if it passes, and I hope like hell it does, as well as the others you've posted.

Bill, thanks for all the updates. Much appreciated, as is all the work that is being done.

Thanks NMBill. Really appreciate the homework on the legislature gun issues.

AH.74 - you have a private message.

Fiscal Impact Report Available

Link to fiscal impact report:
http://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/11 Regular/firs/HB0136.pdf

The Public Education Department claims that the bill "Is contrary to and would violate section 18 US Code Section 922(q) that makes it a federal offense for anyone to carry a weapon in a school zone.”

IANAL, but my reading of the US Code section says they are wrong -- licensing requirement in sub-section ii:

(2)(A) It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to
possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects
interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual
knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.
(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to the possession of a
firearm -
(i) on private property not part of school grounds;
(ii) if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed to do
so by the State in which the school zone is located or a
political subdivision of the State, and the law of the State or
political subdivision requires that, before an individual obtains
such a license, the law enforcement authorities of the State or
political subdivision verify that the individual is qualified
under law to receive the license;

NMBill:

United States Federal Law 18 U.S.C. 922(q)(2)(B)(ii) Expressly provides that a Person Licensed by Their State may Carry a Firearm within a 'School Safety Zone', Located in that same Corrosponding State, as such Term is Defined under United States Federal Law 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(25)(A) AND United States Federal Law 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(25)(B).

This Law was Passed before Reciprocity became Common-Place, therefore, a Person NOT Licensed by New Mexico would have to be Licensed by New Mexico BEFORE such Person can Carry a Firearm in 'School Safety Zones' Located in The State of New Mexico.

Likewise, New Mexican License Holders WOULD have to become Licensed in other States BEFORE New Mexican Citizen-Residents can Carry in 'School Safety Zones' in other States, be they Contiguous in Border, or not.

Only [2] States, Illinois AND Wisconsin, REFUSE to Issue Licenses to Carry, and therefore, Carrying a Firearm in a 'School Safety Zone' in those [2] States is Federally Impossible for Citizens-Residents of any State, UNLESS; such Citizens follow The Exceptions Spelled out under Paragraphs: (i), (iii), (iv), (v). (vi), AND (vii); of Paragraph (B), of that Code Section.

aadvark

*** Unlike Federal Prohibitions under Federal Law 18 U.S.C. 930(e), Open Carry, with a New Mexican License, inside New Mexican Primary AND Secondary Schools (Grades K-12) is LEGAL, under Federal Law, with a New Mexican License, and, thus, The ONLY Prohibition Preventing You from doing so now, if you have such New Mexican Licensure, is New Mexican Law, which; should this Bill Pass, WOULD Remove such Prohibitons. ***

We are working on pulling HB 136 back off the table and creating a committee sub that strips out everything but the State Parks and Recreation area exemption. The bill was tabled [and dead] and we think we can salvage something out of it. Rep Cook's bill went farther than the NM Legislature would ever be willing to travel in this left leaning session.

Mr. Steve Aikens:

It would be Beneficial to The People of The State of New Mexico to Revive Section 8 of New Mexican House Bill 136 to Allow and Authorize Concealed Carry in State Parks and in State Recreational Areas all of which are under The Control of The State Parks Division of: Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources.

Open Carry of a Loaded Firearm, and Concealed Carry be those Licensed by The New Mexican Department of Public Safety, is already LEGAL in Municipal and County Parks under The Second Sentence of Section 6 of Article II of The New Mexican Constitution.

Therefore, I see NO Reason why Open Carry should be Prohibited in New Mexican Parks that has Property Owned or Operated by: The Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Division.

Needless to say though..., I am Disappointed, but NOT Suprised, that The New Mexican Legislature Stripped Sections 1 through 7 of House Bill 136 of The New Mexican Legisaltive Session 2011 during The Recent House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee Meeting.

aadvark

*** Post Secondary Note: Was there ANY other Pro-Firearm Bills Filed for this 2011 New Mexico Legisaltive Session? ***

Thanks, Steve. Not Surprising.

steveaikens said:

We are working on pulling HB 136 back off the table and creating a committee sub that strips out everything but the State Parks and Recreation area exemption. The bill was tabled [and dead] and we think we can salvage something out of it. Rep Cook's bill went farther than the NM Legislature would ever be willing to travel in this left leaning session.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, Steve. As I noted in another thread, I don't believe this is the year for big changes, given the Tucson event, etc. The State Park/Rec Area change would be an excellent small step and would make sense from the standpoint of consistency with other public lands. Good luck.

Thanks Steve. That is a good idea. I got a letter back from the Governor and she supports the change for State Parks to permit guns.

At this time, we still have not succeeded in getting HB 136 off the table. Please contact Rep. Moe Maestas - contact info here: http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HMAES and ask him to get HB 136 off the table now.

We intend a substitute to Rep. Cook's bill - removing all the elements except the State Parks carry. We intend to make it mirror Sen. Kellers SB 542. http://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/11 Regular/bills/senate/SB0542.pdf

Please contact members of HCPAC as soon as possible and ask them to support Rep. Candy Ezzell's HB 228 - http://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/11 Regular/bills/house/HB0228.pdf - in their committee hearing on Tuesday. Committee Members contact info here: http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/committeedisplay.aspx?CommitteeCode=HCPAC

The following are the bills we have filed.

HB 136
HB 140
HB 228

SB 29
SB 220
SB 542

To read the bills, go here and enter the bill number: http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/BillFinderNumber.aspx

If you don't make phone calls and send emails to your committee members - there will very likely be NO CHANGES to our laws this year. It's up to you to help. Please don't let me spend another session in Santa Fe with no support.

Try to understand that changing state statutes is no easy task. It has to be done with baby steps - especially so in a Democratically controlled legislature. Though it may appear everything is being done to benefit only concealed carry licensees [with the exception of the Castle Bills], we have to make changes to the least offensive parts of our firearms statues first - that's concealed carry. The thought process is - out of sight is not offensive to the public - so it's less difficult to make changes there first. Once we have an established history, we can start working on adding open carry to those changes.

Steve Aikens

Thanks Steve. Calls were made.

House Bill 136 was pulled off the table last night and was substituted in committee. It is now a State Parks and Recreation Area bill. It passed House Consumer and Public Affairs and is now on it's way to House Education, then Judiciary.

House Education Committee.

Date/Time: 03/06/2011 08:55a
Description: HEC Committee Meeting On 03/09/2011 8:00 a.m., Room 317
Tracked Bills: HB136

HB136 - Concealed Handguns Allowed in State Parks

If it passes, it goes to House Judiciary.

Time for some action...

steveaikens said:

House Education Committee.

Date/Time: 03/06/2011 08:55a
Description: HEC Committee Meeting On 03/09/2011 8:00 a.m., Room 317
Tracked Bills: HB136

HB136 - Concealed Handguns Allowed in State Parks

If it passes, it goes to House Judiciary.

Click to expand...

And now, let's have everybody call or write the HEC members. All phone numbers are capitol phones. Scroll down for a clump of e-mail addresses to copy and paste into your e-mail to send to all at once.

Chair: Rick Miera rick.miera@nmlegis.gov (505) 986-4842
Vice Chair: Rhonda S. King (no e-mail listed) (505) 986-4438
Members:
Alonzo Baldonado zobaldonado@gmail.com (505) 986-4227
George Dodge georgedodge63@yahoo.com (505) 986-4255
Nora Espinoza noralee@cableone.net (505) 986-4221
Mary Helen Garcia maryhelen.garcia@nmlegis.gov (505) 986-4341
Jimmie C. Hall jimmie.hall@nmlegis.gov (505) 986-4215
Dianne Miller Hamilton tavish38@gmail.com (505) 986-4221
Andy Nuñez annunez@zianet.com (505) 986-4436
Dennis J. Roch denroch@hotmail.com (505) 986-4254
Sheryl Williams Stapleton sheryl.stapleton@nmlegis.gov (505) 986-4774

I've found that e-mails are less effective than a phone call, but if that's all you have time for (or you want to do both), here's all the e-mail addresses in one place to copy and paste into your e-mail to: field:
rick.miera@nmlegis.gov, zobaldonado@gmail.com, georgedodge63@yahoo.com, noralee@cableone.net, maryhelen.garcia@nmlegis.gov, jimmie.hall@nmlegis.gov, tavish38@gmail.com, annunez@zianet.com, denroch@hotmail.com, sheryl.stapleton@nmlegis.gov

Be sure to hit some of these points:
-Concealed weapons allowed in national parks, signed into law by President Obama. This is a non-partisan issue. If Obama allows concealed and loaded firearms in National Parks, why won't New Mexico allow concealed and loaded firearms in state parks?
-Loaded firearms already allowed in cars, and people aren't shooting at each other randomly from their cars now. Why not let them carry outside their car?
-Dangerous animals in some parks (think of the children!)
-Criminals will carry however they want in state parks. Why require law abiding citizens who have passed a background check and went through safety training be unarmed and ready to be victimized by criminals?

Write in your own words and add your own points. I hate impersonal form letters, and our legislators are humans too. Be personal and polite and you might get somewhere with them.

Thanks. Just sent off another letter about this issue. I had previously mailed a hard copy to Gov. Martinez and several pro-gun supporting Legislators on January 3, 2011. The Governor responded that she supports this change. Lets hope our representatives hear the will of the people.

Does 136 really have a chance tho? Albuquerque ain't exactly Gun/Human Rights Central.

ixtow said:

Does 136 really have a chance tho? Albuquerque ain't exactly Gun/Human Rights Central.

Click to expand...

There is a lot more to NM than Albuquerque and Santa Fe.