HOUSE CONSUMER AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL 166
55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2021
AN ACT
RELATING TO CRIME; CREATING NEW CRIMES RELATING TO FIREARMS; PROVIDING A PENALTY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. A new section of the Criminal Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] UNLAWFUL MANUFACTURE OF FIREARMS--UNLAWFUL DISTRIBUTION OF FIREARM MANUFACTURING INSTRUCTIONS--PROHIBITED FIREARMS--REQUIRING FIREARM SERIAL NUMBERS--PENALTY.--
A. It is an offense for a person to manufacture or cause to be manufactured a firearm unless that person is a federally licensed gun manufacturer.
B. It is an offense for a person to use a three-dimensional printer or similar device to manufacture a firearm, firearm frame or receiver or major component of a firearm unless that person is a federally licensed gun manufacturer.
C. It is an offense for a person to distribute digital instructions in the form of computer-aided design files or other code or instructions stored or displayed in electronic format as a digital model that may be used to program a three-dimensional printer to manufacture a firearm, firearm frame or receiver or other major component of a firearm to a person in New Mexico who is not a federally licensed gun manufacturer.
D. It is an offense for a person to manufacture, produce, possess, sell, offer to sell, transfer, purchase or receive a covert or undetectable firearm.
E. It is an offense for a person to possess, manufacture or cause to be manufactured a firearm that lacks a unique serial number engraved, cast or stamped on the frame or receiver by a federally licensed gun manufacturer or importer who complies with all applicable federal laws for manufacturing or importing the firearm.
F. It is an offense for a person to possess, purchase or otherwise obtain separately or as part of a kit a firearm frame or receiver that is not imprinted with a serial number or any combination of parts from which a firearm without a serial number may be readily manufactured, but that does not have the capacity to function as a firearm unless manufactured or otherwise assembled, unless that person is a federally licensed gun dealer, importer or manufacturer.
G. It is an offense for a person to sell, offer to sell or transfer separately or as part of a kit a firearm or firearm frame or receiver that is not imprinted with a serial number or any combination of parts from which a firearm without a serial number may be readily manufactured, but that does not have the capacity to function as a firearm unless manufactured or otherwise assembled, unless that person is a federally licensed gun dealer, importer or manufacturer.
H. A person who violates any of Subsections A through G of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished pursuant to the provisions of Subsection A of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978.
I. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the manufacture, sale, purchase or assembly of an inoperable firearm or the parts necessary to create an inoperable firearm that is created solely for use as a prop in a film production by a digital media company that is engaged in the business of producing digital media intended for film, special effects, holography, computer vision, virtual reality, television and online web-based production.
J. The provisions of this section do not apply to a firearm that has been rendered permanently inoperable or a firearm manufactured prior to 1968 or any antique firearm, as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921.
K. As used in this section:
(1) "covert firearm" means a firearm constructed in a shape or configuration that does not resemble a handgun, rifle, shotgun or machine gun, including a firearm that resembles a key chain, pen, cigarette lighter, cigarette package, cell phone, smart phone, wallet or cane;
(2) "distribute" means to sell, give or otherwise provide or make available via the internet or by any other means and includes an agreement or attempt to distribute;
(3) "federally licensed gun dealer, manufacturer or importer" means a person licensed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 923;
(4) "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 or the frame or receiver of any such weapon;
(5) "firearm frame or receiver" means the part of a firearm that provides housing for the firearm's internal components, such as the hammer, bolt or breechblock, action and firing mechanism, and includes without limitation any object or part that is not a firearm frame or receiver in finished form but is designed or intended to be used for that purpose and that may readily be made into a firearm frame or receiver through milling or other means;
(6) "major component" means the slide, cylinder, frame or receiver of a firearm and, in the case of a rifle or shotgun, the barrel;
(7) "manufacture" means the fabrication of a firearm or a firearm part or the fitting together of component parts to construct a firearm. "Manufacture" does not include repair of existing firearms;
(8) "security exemplar" means a security exemplar fabricated in accordance with subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of subsection (p) of 18 U.S.C. 922;
(9) "three-dimensional printer" means a computer or computer-driven machine or device capable of producing a three-dimensional object from a digital model; and
(10) "undetectable firearm" means a firearm that:
(a) after removal of all parts other than major components, is not as detectable as the security exemplar by walk-through metal detectors calibrated and operated to detect a security exemplar; or
(b) includes a major component that, if the firearm were subjected to inspection by the types of detection devices commonly used at airports for security screening, would not generate an image that accurately depicts the shape of the component; but "undetectable firearm" does not mean a firearm subject to the provisions of paragraphs (3) through (6) of subsection (p) of 18 U.S.C. 922."
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