By Esteban Candelaria
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Imagine a scenario.
Amid concerns from a loved one that a person with a gun is unstable and may hurt themselves or others, a judge has granted local law enforcement an “extreme risk firearm protection order” under New Mexico’s so-called red flag law, allowing police to take that weapon away.
But that person has 48 hours to hand over their guns under current law. and now knows their loved one turned them in. As a result, lawmakers pushing a bill to revise the state’s red flag law say that family may be at even greater risk of being hurt.
“We’re putting people at risk if we don’t enact these changes,” Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, said during debate on Tuesday of House Bill 12, which supporters say would close gaps in the law.
Lawmakers debated HB 12 on the House floor for three hours before voting 41-27 to pass the bill, with Democratic Rep. Joseph Sanchez of Alcalde joining the Republicans to oppose it. It now heads to the Senate.
The bill would remove the clause in New Mexico’s current red flag law calling for a two-day period between when a person is served with an order and when they must give up their guns, instead making that forfeiture immediate. HB 12 also allows law enforcement officers to file red flag petitions themselves, rather than depending on an affidavit from someone else — such as family members — to make a report about the possibility of imminent harm.
That provision, said Chandler, one of the bill’s sponsors, was also aimed at enhancing feelings of safety for family members or other reporting parties, who are often too afraid to submit reports about their loved ones.
New Mexico’s red flag law saw lagging usage during the early years of its implementation, but law enforcement has been putting it to use more office recently, according to state Administrative Office of the Courts data.
In 2020, the year the law was first implemented, just four petitions were filed statewide. The next year, only three were filed. But since then, the number of petitions has more than doubled each year, reaching a statewide total of 96 in 2024.
HB 12 — and the state’s red flag law in general — have faced stout opposition from gun rights groups. In an online post on Tuesday, the National Rifle Association of America’s Institute for Legislative Action said the law “tramples on civil liberties and lacks due process.”
“It should be repealed, not expanded,” the institute said.
Several House Republicans also raised concerns the bill did not grant sufficient due process to those faced with being stripped of their guns, arguing they would not be able to adequately plead their case before they were disarmed.
To address that issue, Rep. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park introduced an amendment that would have reintroduced the 48-hour delay between an order being served and when the person must hand over their firearms and to allow the subjects of red flag law orders to immediately appeal them.
The amendment, Lord said, was intended to keep from relying exclusively on accusations that someone may not be stable enough to keep their firearm.
“This gives a person their right to confront an accuser,” she said. “The person has a fundamental [right] of due process, which is guaranteed in our Constitution, which is not in the red flag bill.”
Democrats voted down the amendment, saying subjects of red flag law orders have the opportunity within 10 days of losing their guns to argue their side before a judge and that keeping the 48-hour clause could put those around them at risk.
“To say they have 48 hours more to get their guns taken away, I think, is really very dangerous to women that we’re trying to protect,” Rep. Susan Herrera, D-Embudo said.
Esteban Candelaria is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. He covers child welfare and the state Children, Youth and Families Department. Learn more about Report for America at reportforamerica.org.