Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN Legal & Legislation

SB 48 & HB 50 Update: Gun Control Bills Receive Committee Referrals in New Mexico House & Senate

Friday, January 20, 2017

SB 48 & HB 50 Update: Gun Control Bills Receive Committee Referrals in New Mexico House & Senate

Committee Hearings Could Take Place Soon!

Ex-NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s national gun control group Everytown continues to mislead lawmakers that these two bills simply close the non-existent “gun show loophole” and regulate online firearms sales.  In fact, these measures are far more expansive. 

If you’re already familiar with these measures, scroll down to the action items below.  If you are just learning about them, read on below to find out how restrictive this legislation is:

Senate Bill 48 & House Bill 50 prohibit you from selling your firearms to any distant relatives, friends, neighbors, business associates, or fellow gun club members without government permission.  The bills would criminalize nearly all private firearm sales between individuals, regardless of where those transactions take place, and require them to be conducted through a licensed dealer involving extensive federal paperwork, background check and payment of an undetermined fee.  Licensed dealers will have to maintain the paperwork recording these transfers for twenty years.  Limited exceptions are only made for immediate family members, FFLs and law enforcement agencies, executors or administrators of estates and trusts, or police officers, military personnel, and licensed security guards acting in the course of their official duties. 

SB 48 & HB 50 similarly restrict temporary firearm transfers -- including gifts, loans, and temporary changes in possession of a firearm, not just gun sales.  There are a limited number of exemptions, including transfers necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, those taking place exclusively at shooting ranges, while hunting or trapping, or during an organized competition or performance, or any time the transferor remains present the entire duration of the transfer.  These exemptions are confusing, raise serious questions about the bills’ scope, compliance and enforceability, and highlight the overreach of the measures.  Activities that could be criminalized under the bills without going through an FFL and obtaining government permission:

  • A man loaning his girlfriend or fiancée his handgun for self-protection when homes or apartments in her neighborhood have been burglarized;
  • A member of the military who is deployed overseas and wants to store his or her personal firearms with a trusted friend;
  • Someone borrowing their co-worker’s gun to take on a hunting trip, to the local range or to shoot on BLM land when the colleague cannot accompany him or her on the excursion.
  • Working ranch employees possessing and transporting ranch-owned rifles in vehicles or on their person.
  • Volunteers staging auction or raffle items for a non-profit, charitable fundraising event where a firearm is displayed.

SB 48 & 50 also require the return of loaned firearms to original owners be conducted through a licensed dealer, with completion of federal paperwork and payment of an undetermined fee.  The bill exempts “temporary” exchanges and only then if the transfer and the transferee’s possession take place exclusively at one of the locations or during one of the activities listed in the paragraph above.  How are the original owners of firearms supposed to take back permanent possession of their loaned guns once they and the original transferee go their separate ways?

These proposals will tax scarce law enforcement resources, cost law-abiding citizens time, money and freedom, and they will do nothing to stop criminals.  For more information, click here.  Please click the “Take Action” button above to contact your state lawmakers and the members of the committees to whom these bills have been referred and urge them to oppose these measures!

SB 48 – Referred to Senate Public Affairs Committee & Senate Judiciary Committee

 

Public Affairs:

Chair Gerald Ortiz Y Pino (D-ABQ)
505-986-4482
[email protected] 

Sen. Bill O’Neill (D-ABQ)
505-986-4260
[email protected] 

Sen. Craig Brandt (R-Rio Rancho)
505-986-4385
[email protected] 

Sen. Candace Gould (R-ABQ)
505-986-4266
[email protected] 

Sen. Liz Stefanics (D-Santa Fe)
505-986-4834
[email protected]

Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-Las Cruces)
505-986-4862
[email protected]

Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-ABQ)
505-986-4267
[email protected]

Sen. Stuart Ingle (R-Portales)
505-986-4702
[email protected]

 

Judiciary:

Chair Richard Martinez (D-Espanola)
505-986-4487
[email protected] 

Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto (D-ABQ)
505-986-4270
[email protected] 

Sen. Greg Baca (R-Belen)
505-986-4874
[email protected] 

Sen. Jacob Candelaria (D-ABQ)
505-986-4369
[email protected] 

Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces)
505-986-4385
[email protected] 

Sen. Ron Griggs (R-Alamogordo)
505-986-4276
[email protected]

Sen. Linda Lopez (D-ABQ)
505-986-4737
[email protected] 

Sen. Cisco McSorley (D-ABQ)
505-986-4389
[email protected] 

Sen. Mark Moores (R-ABQ)
505-986-4859
[email protected] 

Sen. Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe)
505-986-4861
[email protected] 

Sen. Bill Payne (R-ABQ)
505-986-4703
[email protected]

 

HB 50 – Referred to House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee & House Judiciary Committee

 

Consumer & Public Affairs:

Chair Eliseo Alcon (D-Milan)
505-986-4220
[email protected] 

Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-ABQ)
505-986-4221
[email protected] 

Rep. Deborah Armstrong (D-ABQ)
505-986-4435
[email protected] 

Rep. Bob Wooley (R-Roswell)
505-986-4454
[email protected] 

Rep. Monica Youngblood (R-ABQ)
505-986-4242
[email protected]

 

Judiciary:

Chair Gail Chasey (D-ABQ)
505-986-4236
[email protected] 

Rep. Javier Martinez (D-ABQ)
505-986-4464
[email protected] 

Rep. Eliseo Alcon (D-Milan)
505-986-4220
[email protected] 

Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R-Carlsbad)
505-986-4415
[email protected] 

Rep. Zach Cook (R-Ruidoso)
505-986-4411
[email protected] 

Rep. Jim Dines (R-ABQ)
505-986-4242
[email protected] 

Rep. Brian Egolf (D-Santa Fe)
505-986-4782
[email protected] 

Rep. Daymon Ely (D-Corrales)
505-986-4454
[email protected]

Rep. Nate Gentry (R-ABQ)
505-986-4757
[email protected]

Rep. Georgene Louis (D-ABQ)
505-986-4236
[email protected]

Rep. Matthew McQueen (D-Santa Fe)
505-986-4214
[email protected]

Rep. Greg Nibert (R-Roswell)
505-986-4211
[email protected]

Rep. Bill Rehm (R-ABQ)
505-986-4425
[email protected]

TRENDING NOW
Federal Court Strikes Down NFA Registration Requirements for Suppressors, Short-Barreled Rifles, and Short-Barreled Shotguns in NRA Case

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Federal Court Strikes Down NFA Registration Requirements for Suppressors, Short-Barreled Rifles, and Short-Barreled Shotguns in NRA Case

In another major victory for the National Rifle Association and law-abiding gun owners, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas today held that the National Firearms Act’s registration and approval requirements for ...

The NFA’s New Era: What Has Changed, What Remains the Same, Items of Note

News  

Monday, October 12, 2026

The NFA’s New Era: What Has Changed, What Remains the Same, Items of Note

As we announced separately this week, ATF has determined that it will use its executive discretion to uniformly suspend enforcement of large portions of the National Firearms Act (NFA).

Guardsmen’s Arrest Shows D.C. Still Lacks Common Sense, Proportionality on Guns

News  

Monday, October 12, 2026

Guardsmen’s Arrest Shows D.C. Still Lacks Common Sense, Proportionality on Guns

A lot of has changed for the better in the Nation’s Capital since Donald Trump returned to the White House. But the recent arrest of a young National Guardsman for an apparently harmless breach of ...

Federal Court Strikes Down NFA Registration Requirements for Suppressors, Short-Barreled Rifles, and Short-Barreled Shotguns in NRA Case

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Federal Court Strikes Down NFA Registration Requirements for Suppressors, Short-Barreled Rifles, and Short-Barreled Shotguns in NRA Case

In another major victory for the National Rifle Association and law-abiding gun owners, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas today held that the National Firearms Act’s registration and approval requirements for ...

Questions and Answers About the Texas NFA Case

News  

Monday, August 17, 2026

Questions and Answers About the Texas NFA Case

On August 12, we reported on an important development in the ongoing litigation over the National Firearms Act (NFA) filed by multiple plaintiffs in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. These included, ...

Officials Admit It: There’s No Actual Substance Behind Canadian Gun Grab

News  

Monday, October 12, 2026

Officials Admit It: There’s No Actual Substance Behind Canadian Gun Grab

A year ago, Canada’s Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree admitted, in a bombshell recording with a gun owner, that the Liberal government’s “assault-style firearm” ban and confiscation program isn’t driven by public safety or gun ...

Trump Administration Issues Report Detailing Firearms Industry Debanking

News  

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Trump Administration Issues Report Detailing Firearms Industry Debanking

Since taking office for the second time, President Donald Trump and his administration have worked to end political debanking and guarantee that all law-abiding Americans and businesses have access to financial services.

Not Your Father’s ATF: Agency Pledges Reform, Distances Itself from Biden-Harris Era

News  

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Not Your Father’s ATF: Agency Pledges Reform, Distances Itself from Biden-Harris Era

A headline on the website of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives appeared late in the day on May 21: “ATF Launches New Era of Reform.” According to the accompanying announcement:

For Better and for Worse, “Direct Democracy” Seeks to Alter Gun and Hunting Policy

News  

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

For Better and for Worse, “Direct Democracy” Seeks to Alter Gun and Hunting Policy

Not every important Second Amendment or hunting policy fight begins with a bill number.

Mississippi: Attorney General Issues Statement on Suppressors Following ATF Decision

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Mississippi: Attorney General Issues Statement on Suppressors Following ATF Decision

Following the ATF's recent decision regarding the enforcement of NFA transfer guidelines, Attorney General Lynn Fitch has issued a statement that filing an ATF Form 4 for suppressor transfers is no longer mandatory in Mississippi.

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.