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The Latest: New Mexico Legislature passes background checks

Reported by Washington Times:

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – The Latest on gun control proposals in the New Mexico Legislature (all times local):

10:50 p.m.

A bill to extend background checks to nearly all gun sales has won approval from the New Mexico Legislature.

The 42-27 vote of the House on Monday sent the bill to the desk of Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for final approval. In a statement, the governor applauded the bill as a common-sense safety measure.

Republican legislators and county sheriffs across much of the state have described the expansion of background check requirements as ineffectual and an infringement on gun rights.

Lawmakers are considering a raft of gun safety initiatives that also would allow judges to authorize removing guns from people who may be suicidal or bent on violence, expand child neglect laws to encompass the secure storage of household firearms and ban gun possession for people under permanent protective orders for domestic violence.

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9:30 p.m.

Democrats in the New Mexico House of Representatives pushed toward final legislative approval of a gun control bill to expand background checks to nearly all private sales of firearms.

The House on Monday evening began final deliberations of a Senate-approved bill to close loopholes on background checks for private person-to-person sales. Sheriffs across much of the state have threatened not to enforce gun regulations that they find unconstitutional.

School teacher and state Rep. Debra Sarinana of Albuquerque presented the bill to expands background checks to private sales that increasingly take place through online gun marketplaces. Checks against a federal database are designed to weed out prohibited buyers such as convicted felons and people with severe mental disorders.

The bill provides exemptions for antique gun sales and sales between family members.

Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC.

Source:Washington Times

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