Gun Owner Liability Legislation Introduced This Week in New Mexico

On the heels of House Bill 50, NRA-opposed magazine limit legislation alerted on earlier this week, comes House Bill 9, gun owner liability legislation filed by State Rep. Pamela Herndon (D-ABQ).

A repeat bill from the 2022 session, House Bill 9 creates a fourth-degree felony penalty for a person who keeps or stores a firearm in a manner that negligently disregards a minor's ability to access that firearm and the minor accesses that firearm and uses it in a manner that causes great bodily harm to or death of the minor or another person. 

If the same circumstances existed and the minor displays or brandishes the firearm in a threatening manner or causes injury to himself or another person not resulting in great bodily harm or death, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor.