On February 7, 2025, Breitbart News reported that New Mexico Democrats had revived legislation Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) wanted in 2023, and were pushing it as Senate Bill 279.
On December 13, 2023, Breitbart News observed that Grisham wanted legislation modeled after Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-AZ) Gas-Operated Semiautomatic Firearms Exclusion (GOSAFE) Act. Although GOSAFE failed passage at the federal level, Grisham believed it could be pushed through the New Mexico legislature by her fellow Democrats.
SB 279 continues moving through the New Mexico legislature now.
The NRA-ILA summed up the dangers of SB 279:
SB 279…seeks to ban commonly owned gas-operated semiautomatic firearms. The Attorney General will identify the firearms to be banned. This ambiguous language grants excessive power to unelected officials, allowing them to arbitrarily decide which firearms are prohibited. The bill also bans standard-capacity magazines and ammunition feeding devices. These devices are essential for self-defense and sport shooting. SB279 also prohibits machine guns and rapid fire devices, turning law-abiding citizens into criminals for possessing items that are currently legal.
National Association for Gun Rights president Dudley Brown commented on the ban, saying, “The National Association for Gun Rights dragged Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to court over her previous unconstitutional carry ban. We sounded the alarm when Lujan Grisham swung the door wide open for gun control during last summer’s special session and we’ll continue to mobilize gun owners across the Land of Enchantment as we seek to swat down this ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban, too.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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