House committee hears broad debate on Senate Bill 261 on firearms at polling sites and rolls the bill

Lawmakers and public witnesses debated Senate Bill 261 in a House committee meeting, focusing on tightened exemptions to a 2024 law that prohibits firearms at polling locations. The bill’s stated aim is to "prevent violence and intimidation at polling places" and to keep polling locations firearm‑free, while narrowing prior exemptions.

Public commenters and organizational witnesses split on the measure. Nate Eske of the Zia Rifle and Pistol Club asked the committee to restore a concealed‑carry exemption, saying, "All we'd like is for the concealed carry exemption language to come back in." Nick Tuccio, state director of the National Rifle Association, opposed the bill and cited comparative statistics in arguing that licensed concealed carriers are law‑abiding; he said, in part, "...concealed carry holders in both, for example, Texas and Florida commit felonies and misdemeanors at 8 times less the rate of uniformed police officers in those respective states." On the webcast, Carla Sontag of the New Mexico Business Coalition argued the bill "expands the crime of unlawful possession of a firearm at a polling place by eliminating long standing exemptions" and warned it could criminalize off‑duty officers and licensed carriers near polling places.

Supporters included Valerie Brooker of the League of Women Voters of New Mexico, who urged a due pass for the committee substitute and said volunteers and poll workers had reported feeling threatened by firearms at polling places: "firearms do not belong in or around polling places where they can be used to intimidate voters and poll workers." The presenter noted that the updated exemptions in the bill would allow: (1) law enforcement officers whose presence is requested by an election official to assist in maintaining order or responding to an emergency; (2) persons who remain inside private automobiles; and (3) law enforcement officers whose office is colocated with a polling place.

Representative Locke pressed the Secretary of State’s Office and staff on practical enforcement and safety, asking how polling sites would be protected if officers and concealed carriers were not permitted to be present and saying the change "could really potentially make these people sitting ducks, so to speak." Staff from the Secretary of State’s Office (Lindsay Bachman) responded that federal law already prohibits stationing uniformed officers at polling locations and emphasized that requested officer presence by a presiding judge, election judge, county clerk or the Secretary of State’s Office is preserved in the bill. Staff also said county clerks and poll workers receive training on de‑escalation and how to address weapons observed at polling sites.

Late in the meeting the presenter apologized for being double‑booked and said the bill’s sponsor was not present; the presenter recommended the committee roll the bill. The chair agreed and the committee rolled SB 261 for later consideration, with no final vote taken on the measure during this session.