SENATE BILL 244
57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2025
INTRODUCED BY
Michael Padilla and Meredith A. Dixon
AN ACT
RELATING TO CRIME; CREATING THE CRIME OF UNLAWFUL TRANSFER OF A FIREARM TO A MINOR; PROVIDING EXCEPTIONS; PROVIDING A PENALTY; ADDING THE CRIME OF UNLAWFUL TRANSFER OF A FIREARM TO A MINOR TO THE DEFINITION OF "RACKETEERING".
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. A new Section 30-7-2.5 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"30-7-2.5. [NEW MATERIAL] UNLAWFUL TRANSFER OF A FIREARM TO A MINOR.--
A. Unlawful transfer of a firearm to a minor consists of a person who knowingly transfers a firearm to a minor, except when:
(1) the minor is in attendance at a hunter's safety course or handgun safety course or participating in a legal shooting activity;
(2) the minor is engaging in the use of a firearm for target shooting at an established range authorized by the governing body of the jurisdiction in which the range is located or in an area where the discharge of a firearm without legal justification is not prohibited by law;
(3) the minor is engaging in an organized competition involving the use of firearms;
(4) the minor is participating in or practicing for a performance by an organization that has been granted exemption from federal income tax by the United States commissioner of internal revenue as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended or renumbered;
(5) the minor is engaging in legal hunting or trapping activities;
(6) the minor is on real property under control of the minor's parents, grandparent or legal guardian and the minor is being supervised by a parent, grandparent or legal guardian; or
(7) the transfer occurs from the minor's parent, grandparent or legal guardian to the minor.
B. Each firearm transferred in violation of this section shall constitute a separate offense under Subsection A of this section.
C. Two or more offenses may be charged in the same complaint, information or indictment and shall be punished as separate offenses.
D. Mistake of fact as to the minor's age shall not be a defense under this section.
E. Whoever violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a second degree felony.
F. As used in this section:
(1) "firearm" means any weapon that will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosion, the frame or receiver of any such weapon or any firearm muffler or firearm silencer and includes any handgun, rifle or shotgun;
(2) "knowingly" means a person who knew or should have known;
(3) "minor" means a person under the age of nineteen; and
(4) "transfer" means to voluntarily give possession of a firearm to a minor, with or without consideration."
SECTION 2. Section 30-42-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1980, Chapter 40, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:
"30-42-3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Racketeering Act:
A. "racketeering" means any act that is chargeable or indictable under the laws of New Mexico and punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, involving any of the following cited offenses:
(1) murder, as provided in Section 30-2-1 NMSA 1978;
(2) robbery, as provided in Section 30-16-2 NMSA 1978;
(3) kidnapping, as provided in Section 30-4-1 NMSA 1978;
(4) forgery, as provided in Section 30-16-10 NMSA 1978;
(5) larceny, as provided in Section 30-16-1 NMSA 1978;
(6) fraud, as provided in Section 30-16-6 NMSA 1978;
(7) embezzlement, as provided in Section 30-16-8 NMSA 1978;
(8) receiving stolen property, as provided in Section 30-16-11 NMSA 1978;
(9) bribery, as provided in Sections 30-24-1 through 30-24-3.1 NMSA 1978;
(10) gambling, as provided in Sections 30-19-3, 30-19-13 and 30-19-15 NMSA 1978;
(11) illegal kickbacks, as provided in Sections 30-41-1 and 30-41-2 NMSA 1978;
(12) extortion, as provided in Section 30-16-9 NMSA 1978;
(13) trafficking in controlled substances, as provided in Section 30-31-20 NMSA 1978;
(14) arson and aggravated arson, as provided in Subsection A of Section 30-17-5 and Section 30-17-6 NMSA 1978;
(15) promoting prostitution, as provided in Section 30-9-4 NMSA 1978;
(16) criminal solicitation, as provided in Section 30-28-3 NMSA 1978;
(17) fraudulent securities practices, as provided in the New Mexico Uniform Securities Act;
(18) loan sharking, as provided in Sections 30-43-1 through 30-43-5 NMSA 1978;
(19) distribution of controlled substances or controlled substance analogues, as provided in Sections 30-31-21 and 30-31-22 NMSA 1978;
(20) a violation of the provisions of Section 30-51-4 NMSA 1978;
(21) unlawful taking of a vehicle or motor vehicle, as provided in Section 30-16D-1 NMSA 1978;
(22) embezzlement of a vehicle or motor vehicle, as provided in Section 30-16D-2 NMSA 1978;
(23) fraudulently obtaining a vehicle or motor vehicle, as provided in Section 30-16D-3 NMSA 1978;
(24) receiving or transferring stolen vehicles or motor vehicles, as provided in Section 30-16D-4 NMSA 1978;
(25) altering or changing the serial number, engine number, decal or other numbers or marks of a vehicle or motor vehicle, as provided in Section 30-16D-6 NMSA 1978; [and]
(26) trafficking cannabis products, as provided in Section 26-2C-28 NMSA 1978; and
(27) unlawful transfer of a firearm to a minor, as provided in Section 30-7-2.5 NMSA 1978;
B. "person" means an individual or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property;
C. "enterprise" means a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, business, labor union, association or other legal entity or a group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity and includes illicit as well as licit entities; and
D. "pattern of racketeering activity" means engaging in at least two incidents of racketeering with the intent of accomplishing any of the prohibited activities set forth in Subsections A through D of Section 30-42-4 NMSA 1978; provided at least one of the incidents occurred after February 28, 1980 and the last incident occurred within five years after the commission of a prior incident of racketeering."
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