In her state of the state address, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham prioritized public safety reforms as one of her key initiatives. As a result, lawmakers in the House Consumer & Public Affairs committee advanced a bill aiming to create stricter penalties for repeat felons in possession of a firearm.
House Bill 49 Increase Felon Firearm Penalty, would reclassify the crime of felon in possession of a firearm or destructive device from a third-degree felony to a second-degree felony. It would also extend the current penalty from 3 years to 9 years of imprisonment for seriously violent felons.
Bill sponsor, Rep. Joy Garratt (D-Albuquerque) said the current law is too lenient.
“The federal prison system already has harsher mandatory sentences, and so by matching that seriousness, criminals realize that if they get picked up in Albuquerque, they're going to really face a serious sentence that will be carried out,” she said.
Garratt said she’s aware that critics will point out that it won’t stop crime.
“Well, it may not stop someone, but it's going to keep them off the street so they have more time to hopefully be rehabilitated, hopefully to think about what they're doing and the impact it has on the lives of others,” she said.
Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Albuquerque) questioned the different classifications for a felon under this law, which could impact their sentence.
“If I have a very violent felon, they're out, but if they do something non-violent, they don't get that nine years. That was my whole point. They do this crime with the firearm, and they just get three years,” she said.
The fiscal impact report points out the bill would possibly increase costs with more people incarcerated for longer periods. It could also result in more cases going to trial, which would mean higher correctional and judiciary costs.
Other public safety bills would prohibit the sale and transfer of semiautomatic firearms and require firearm dealers to maintain gun records.
The bill now moves on to the House Judiciary Committee.
Support for this coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
