NRA-ILA | New Mexico Legislature Adjourns!

Today at noon, the New Mexico legislature adjourned sine die from the 2026 legislative session. Despite efforts by anti-gun advocates, Second Amendment supporters were able to engage and help prevent two radical anti-gun proposals from becoming law, SB 17 (semi-auto rifle ban & FFL regulation) and SB 261 (prohibitions on firearm carry at a polling place for citizens and law enforcement). 

Thank you to NRA members and Second Amendment advocates who took the time to contact their lawmakers and attend hearings. Your advocacy matters. Your NRA will continue to monitor the situation on the ground and be back at the Round House next session in 2026 and any special sessions that may come up before then.

SB 17: The “Stop Illegal Gun Trade and Extremely Dangerous Weapons Act” represented a radical unconstitutional overreach that would have banned commonly owned gas-operated semiautomatic firearms and standard-capacity magazines, directly violating the Second Amendment’s “common use” standard. This legislation would have imposed vague, costly, and duplicative “site hardening” mandates on law-abiding small businesses already heavily regulated by the ATF, while would have created a direct conflict with federal law by attempting to commandeer federal records to establish a state-level gun registry. Most alarmingly, the act would have forced dealers into a “zero tolerance” trap that violates the Fifth Amendment by compelling annual certifications under threat of felony charges for technical paperwork errors, ensuring that this misguided bill—which ignores the fact that retail theft accounts for a mere 0.2% of crime guns—would have faced immediate and certain legal challenges.

SB 261: Senate Bill 261 represented a significant infringement on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding New Mexicans by transforming polling locations into expanded “gun-free zones” where self-defense is criminalized. Most alarmingly, the bill would have struck the existing exemption for thousands of responsible citizens who hold a valid concealed handgun license, effectively disarming them the moment they step within the new, arbitrary 100-foot and 50-foot “no-carry” buffers around polling doors and ballot containers. The legislation also would have hamstrung law enforcement, replacing their broad authority to carry in the line of duty with a restrictive requirement that their presence must be specifically “requested” by an election official to maintain order or respond to an emergency. By expanding the definition of a “firearm” to include a mere “frame or receiver,” this bill would have targeted law-abiding owners with petty misdemeanor charges for carrying even non-functional parts, creating legal traps for citizens while doing nothing to deter actual criminals.

Continue to check your inbox and www.nraila.org for updates concerning your Second Amendment rights.