New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Friday signed a bill requiring background checks on almost all firearm sales in the state.
The legislation makes it a misdemeanor to sell a firearm to almost anyone without a background check, The Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
The bill, which is opposed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), will go into effect in July.
“It’s clear to me that the NRA isn’t going to stop trying to meddle in making this a safer state,” Lujan Grisham said Friday. “We all have a constitutional right to be safe in our homes and our communities,” she later added.
Gun store owners and those with federal firearm licenses are now required by law to conduct background checks before selling a gun.
All other sales, including those between people over the internet, will require a background check through a federal firearms license holder.
Sales between law enforcement officers or immediate family members will not be subject to the background checks required by the legislation. The law also would not apply to antique firearms, construction tools or emergency flares. – READ MORE