The Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo

By ROBERT NOTT
The Santa Fe New Mexican

Gun safety advocates won a narrow victory late Tuesday when the House of Representatives voted 35-34 in favor of a bill prohibiting firearms within 100 feet of a polling site.

But Senate Bill 5 won’t head straight to the desk of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who included the measure in a broad public safety package she unveiled just before the session’s start.

The House voted 35-34 to adopt an amendment by Rep. Bill Rehm, R-Albuquerque, exempting gun owners with a valid concealed carry permit — which means the measure must now return to the Senate for a concurrence vote.

Ten House Democrats joined the 25 Republicans in the chamber to support the amendment, while nine Democrats joined Republicans to vote against SB 5 after about two and a half hours of debate.

If the Senate votes to approve the exemption, the bill will then head to the governor.

Whether that will happen with just a day and a half left in the session was unclear. Senate Republicans unsuccessfully pushed for a Senate floor amendment to exempt concealed carry permit owners from the law about two weeks ago.

Most of the measures in Lujan Grisham’s 21-bill public safety package have stalled or died in the session.

As of Tuesday only one gun safety bill — imposing a seven-day waiting period before someone can legally purchase a firearm — has cleared both chambers and is on the governor’s desk. The House concurred with Senate changes to House Bill 129 late Monday.

Three “tough-on-crime” proposals, including one increasing fees for felons using firearms in crimes, cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday but hadn’t been heard on the Senate floor by late Tuesday night.

The governor, in a news release her office issued Tuesday, implored lawmakers “to quickly approve these bills and send them to my desk.”

SB 5 would create a misdemeanor charge punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine for carrying a firearm near a polling site. Some exceptions are carved out, including for law enforcement officers.

The bill’s sponsors, including Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said it would ensure voters and people working at polling sites do not feel threatened by people carrying firearms.

The bill would help ease tension in a highly charged political environment among heightened concerns about voter intimidation, supporters said.

“Folks are really terrified to be in that area [voting sites] with people bringing in weapons,” said Rep. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe.

Opponents argued the bill is another attack on the constitutional right to bear arms and said it would do little, if anything, to quell voter concerns. 

Rehm, a former police officer, said SB 5 “will do nothing from stopping a criminal from open carry or concealed carry in a polling place.”

He sought the concealed carry exemption because people with permits are unlikely to pose threats, he said.

While some Democrats expressed support for the amendment, others argued against it.

Rep. Eliseo Lee Alcon, D-Milan, said there have been complaints of people with concealed firearms entering polling sites and revealing their weapons to others.

“They make sure everybody knows they are carrying and you should be scared of them,” Alcon said.