Deputy Chief Patrol Agent for the El Paso Sector
Reuters

New Mexico Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a firearm bill on Tuesday that will empower state district courts to order the brief surrender of firearms from individuals deemed to be a threat to themselves, or others, and urged sheriffs to resign if they refuse to enforce the new bill.

Several deputies from rural communities opposed the bill in committee hearings stating that is a breach of constitutional protections to legal process, free speech, and the right to bear arms. There have been mass protests in favor of, and against, the new law. Grisham said that they should resign as law enforcement officers and an official in that community if they truly plan to do just that.

Tony Mace of Cobol County, the President of the New Mexico Sheriffs Association, said the new law goes too far by potentially impounding guns before any crime is even committed, and that he and other sheriffs will assert their discretion over its enforcement.

The county of roughly 20,000 adjacent Texas residents is the latest of a minimum of a dozen New Mexican counties to adopt the label for sanctuaries.

The red-flag legislation this year allows police and sheriff deputes to petition the court within 48 hours for the surrender of household firearms from people that appear to pose a danger to themselves or others.

Petitions may support affidavit from relatives, employers or administrators of faculties, and authorities could also be held responsible for officers who fail to enforce the law.

Mothers demand action, a regulation advocacy group, is planning a years-long campaign to publicize the law and description how people can petition enforcement for extreme risk protection orders a state chapter leader, Emelie De Angelis said.

She said her group stresses that district attorneys can seek red-flag orders from judges in areas where sheriffs could be reluctant to try to do so. "We were really adamant-that especially with things of our sheriffs- many of whom say they don't want to enforce this- DA's had to remain in the law", she said.

Invoking the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas and therefore, the 2018 mass shooting that killed 17 students at a Florida high school, Lujan Grisham outlined her motivation to sign the Red-flag law. Red-flag laws gained momentum after learning that the young man accused within the attack on Florida was widely known to be mentally disturbed yet had access to weapons.

Now this state is responding, said Gov. Lujan Grisham. " We are watching the chance to try to the maximum amount as we will for a threat that would create mass violence." A Red-flag order would set a 10-day court hearing deadline on whether the initial order to surrender firearms is extended for one year. A flagged gun owner may request an extension of up to 30 days for the hearing.

Failure to surrender firearms as ordered may be a misdemeanor which may cause the removal of weapons by the authorities, the law comes into effect on May 20.