A bill that would make it a crime to negligently store a firearm so that it’s accessible to a minor is on its way to a full House vote in the legislature. Many Republicans and gun rights advocates opposed the bill, but sponsors say they are trying to reduce youth gun violence.
House Bill 9 is known as Bennie’s Bill, named for Bennie Hargrove, who died after being shot in 2021 by a fellow classmate at Washington Middle School in Albuquerque. That student used his father’s gun.
According to the Sandy Hook Promise, 4.6 million American children live in a home with a loaded and unlocked gun, which experts have attributed to those weapons being used in school shootings.
One of the bill sponsors, Rep. Pamelya Herndon, D-Albuquerque, introduced similar legislation last session, but it was tabled over the meaning of “safe storage.”
This year, Herndon said, the sponsors amended the language so safe storage could mean a locked container or securely storing a firearm in a location a minor could not reach. The updated bill also gives the courts and district attorneys discretion to determine what is reasonable under each circumstance.
"You can have a million guns is what I always state, but the requirement is that you store them safely. Your gun, your responsibility" said Herndon.
The National Rifle Association opposes the bill arguing it would have a “chilling effect” on youth hunting and competitive shooting.
Herndon said nothing in this bill prohibits these activities or stops anyone from owning a gun. But it makes it more difficult for youth to access a firearm.
"Sometimes our youth don’t have the maturity to understand what is happening when they access a gun and they use it. There’s so much use of these video games, for example, where people die but they come back to life" Herndon said.
Penalties would range from a misdemeanor if a young person brandishes a firearm but causes no bodily harm, to a fourth degree felony if that young person causes harm or death.
The bill now moves on to the Senate.
This coverage is made possible by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and KUNM listeners.
