N.M. Stat. § 1-20-NEW

Current through 2024, ch. 69

Section 1-20-NEW - [Newly enacted section not yet numbered] [Effective ninety days after adjournment] Unlawful possession of a firearm at a polling place

A. Unlawful possession of a firearm at a polling place consists of possession of a loaded or unloaded firearm by any person within:

(1) one hundred feet of the door through which voters may enter to vote at a school building in which a polling place is located while early voting is in progress or on election day;

(2) one hundred feet of the door through which voters may enter to vote at the office of the county clerk, an alternate voting location, a mobile voting site or any location used as a polling place while early voting is in progress or on election day that is not a school; or

(3) fifty feet of a monitored secured container as used in Subsection E of Section 1-6-9 NMSA 1978, beginning twenty-eight days before an election through election day.

B. The provisions of Subsection A of this section do not apply to:

(1) a certified law enforcement officer in performance of the officer's official duties;

(2) a law enforcement officer who is certified pursuant to the Law Enforcement Training Act acting in accordance with the policies of the officer's law enforcement agency;

(3) a person in a private automobile or other private means of conveyance; or

(4) a person carrying a concealed firearm who is in possession of a valid concealed handgun license for that firearm pursuant to the Concealed Handgun Carry Act.

C. A person conducting lawful, non-election-related business nearer than one hundred feet from the door through which voters may enter to vote or nearer than fifty feet from a monitored secured container is not guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm at a polling place.

D. A person who commits unlawful possession of a firearm at a polling place is guilty of a petty misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978.

E. For the purposes of this section, "firearm" means a weapon that will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosion, or the frame or receiver of any such weapon.

NMS § 1-20-NEW

Added by 2024, c. 50,s. 1, eff. ninety days after adjournment.