By ESTEBAN CANDELARIA
The Santa Fe New Mexican

The illegal possession of a firearm by a person previously convicted of a crime carries serious penalties in New Mexico — at least three years in prison.

Still, hundreds of people have been charged with the offense in recent years.

So, how can New Mexico better deter the problem?

That was the question lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee pondered Monday afternoon, as the Legislature gears up to consider several proposals designed to curb violent crime in New Mexico during this year’s 30-day session.

For Ben Baker, senior public safety adviser to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the answer to deterring people who are not allowed to own firearms from getting them is simple: harsher penalties.

“What you will see this session … [is bills] that do look to enhance the sentencing duration for the purposes of those folks who repeatedly flout the law and commit violence in our community,” he said.

Hundreds of people previously convicted of felonies have been charged with possessing a firearm in recent years.

In a recent bill analysis, the New Mexico Sentencing Commission reported there were 950 cases involving the crime in fiscal year 2024, the most recent year the agency had access to court data. More than one-third of those cases that have been completed resulted in a conviction for that crime.

As of June 30, 2024, 92 people were in prison after being convicted of the crime.

Baker also argued many people who commit violent crimes have previously interacted with New Mexico’s criminal justice system, were not allowed to possess a firearm and did so anyway. He added that remedies like fines or restorative justice do not dissuade people from committing violent crimes.

Baker said lawmakers may see a couple of proposals on the topic, including House Bill 49, which was filed Jan. 7 by two Democrats. HB 49 would eliminate the distinction between violent and nonviolent felons, and increase the severity of the crime for all first-time offenders from a third-degree felony to a second-degree felony.

That would entail an increase from the previous three-year prison term for nonviolent felons to a possible nine years in prison for anyone on their first offense. Those found guilty of the crime more than once could face first-degree felony convictions and 18-year sentences.

HB 49 is slated to be taken up by the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

However, Kim Chavez Cook, appellate defender of the state Law Offices of the Public Defender, noted the state already has amended the penalties for felons in possession of a firearm several times in recent years. That has led to felons with previous convictions of serious violent offenses facing at least six years in prison, four times the length of time they faced as of early 2018.

Although New Mexico already is relying on incarcerating felons found guilty of possessing a firearm, the issue of violent crimes has persisted, Chavez Cook argued.

“I’m not here to say incarceration isn’t the answer. I’m here to tell you we are already doing it,” she said. “We’ve already increased the penalty for this particular offense. … I don’t think that increasing felon in possession in particular, again, is going to get at the violent crime problem or gun violence in general.”

Baker’s proposals were met with some early support Monday.

Sen. Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, expressed some interest in proposals aimed at expanding penalties for gun crimes like the offense of possessing a firearm as a felon, arguing that New Mexico lacks ways to broadly deter people from committing such crimes.

“Here in New Mexico, there’s no general deterrent, there’s no sense of consequence,” he said. “… If we’re going to deal with the gun violence in this state and in my hometown, we may have to really, really increase the penalty scheme to create a general deterrence.”

Republicans also expressed interest in increasing penalties for such crimes, including Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, who criticized New Mexico’s current penalties for felons who choose to illegally possess a firearm, saying those people are clearly “willing to take the risk” of incarceration because the terms they face are not long enough.

She said Baker’s proposals target the right category of people, adding that could be the way to move the needle on addressing violent crime in New Mexico.

“People are sick and tired of this crime. These are the kind of laws we want to see passed,” she said.