House Bill 12 (HB 12), recently passed by the New Mexico Senate, proposes significant amendments to the state’s “Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act,” commonly known as the red flag law.
While the bill aims to enhance public safety by allowing law enforcement officers to directly petition for firearm seizures and mandating immediate relinquishment upon a judge’s order, it raises substantial constitutional concerns, particularly regarding due process under the Second Amendment.
A critical issue with HB 12 is its provision for the immediate confiscation of firearms upon the issuance of an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO), without affording the respondent a prior hearing. This approach effectively permits the deprivation of an individual’s Second Amendment rights without due process, as the individual is not given an opportunity to contest the allegations before their firearms are seized.
This procedure stands in stark contrast to the principles outlined in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Rahimi (2024), which prohibits disarmament without a hearing before the firearms are seized.
HB 12’s mandate for immediate firearm relinquishment upon service of an ERPO, without a prior hearing or judicial determination of a credible threat, conflicts with the due process requirements underscored in the Rahimi decision. The bill violates the constitutional guarantee of due process by allowing firearms to be seized based solely on an ex parte order—where the respondent has no opportunity to present their case.
Moreover, empowering law enforcement officers to initiate these petitions based on information gathered during their official duties raises additional concerns.
While purportedly intended to streamline the process, this provision could lead to potential abuses of power and the infringement of individual rights without adequate judicial oversight.
The bill now heads to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk for a signature.
All laws repugnant to the Constitution are null and void.
I hope our courts will uphold our 2nd ammendment rights.
Unreal. That good old Constitution seems to mean nothing to the dems. It is there for a purpose. We MUST quit electing “leadership” that thinks they are above the law of the land.
MLG is a hypocrite. She’s all for guns in the movie “Young Guns,” which glorifies outlaw Billy the Kid, but is ok with outlawing guns for law abiding citizens.
But she has a history of supporting the outlaws while continuing to support gun grabs from law-abiding citizens, so there’s no surprise here.
Disgusting gun grab which will be overturned.
This unconstitutional law will be struck down by the U.S. Constitution.
Can’t wait till this is heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
It amazes me that our state Democrats work hard to push an obviously flawed, anti 2nd amendment bill but table a bill that is designed to help keep our Doctor shortage from getting worse. The medical malpractice reform bill is file 13nd but anti gun bill moves forward. I guess this shows what happens when a bunch of liberal lawyers get elected that would rather reward criminals with 2k grants than protect hardworking citizens. Remember these politicians and vote them out.
Before MLG, NM was a state that could be considered one of the most free states in the US. After seven years of MLG, we are no longer a free state. We are as oppressed & deprived of our rights as the communist states in the NE & the communist state of California. We are losing our most critical rights w/ every legislative session under the guise “Public Safety”. Every 2A bill makes more law abiding New Mexicans into criminals. Thank goodness MLG is a lame duck governor but we need to clear out the marxist, leftists in the state legislature.
Billy the Kid and “Young Guns” get a pass; law-abiding citizens get arrested. Crazy town!
MLG and her cohorts just want the law abiding citizens disarmed because the criminal element will still be armed. They are still not intelligent enough to understand that guns do not kill people.. people kill people, gun or no gun. Many times when these people kill people it over drugs, marijuana included. They do not seem to have a problem with that. Might be time to investigate where their money is coming from.
Who will join in legal action to prevent this patently unconstitutional bill from passing into law? Is there no 2nd Amendment law firm ready to sue for relief? How about the NRA or NAGR or GOA? Where are you now, when we need you to act on our behalf. Many 2nd Amendment organizations are always soliciting donations. Perhaps they should now put the rubber to the road.
All the named organizations, and many of their members here in NM, have been working, testifying, writing letters, etc, to try to prevent this, and other, even more egregious bills from passing. Unfortunately, the Dem leadership had their minds made up. At this point, it has to be signed by the Gov (pretty much a given) and then someone has to actually be the test case, meaning someone has to have an ERPO taken out against them, have their guns immediately seized, sue for relief in state court, likely appeal to state supreme court, probably federal appeals court, then possibly all the way to the Supreme court, where we can be hopeful, but not certain, that they will hear it, and then overturn it. Some or all of the mentioned organizations would likely join such a suit, with attorneys, funding, etc, but the whole process will likely take years, and in the meantime, the person who is the one deprived of his rights still is out his firearms. I don’t envy the person who is the test case.
MLG– Michelle Lujan Gun grabber.
NM is one of several states that have fallen to communism, others ie California, Oregon all have similar legislation. The neo Bolshevik’s that run these states have been trained in Marxist schools like the emerge academy and the Frankfurt school. Appealing to them to abide by the constitution is futile, since their orders are to destroy it. Our only hope is the US Supreme Court since the NM courts are all “compromised” . It is going to be a long road back to sanity for NM and from what I see and hear most of the decent people are leaving for safer and saner States. Those remaining have an uphill battle but God is on the side of justice , and doing everything possible to rid State leadership of these communist swine may someday yield freedom and the sun can once again shine in NM.
Unconstitutional or not, the damage will be done — that is the communofascist way. They know what they are doing is unethical and illegal, they don’t care. To them, you are a criminal for having a different belief system and for having the capability to stand up to them. To them, the ends justify the means.
The communofascists love guilt by implication, guilt by innuendo, guilt by accusation. Look at what they’ve done with “homophobia, xenophobia, racist, etc” — a single finger pointed and you are guilty, guilty, guilty! You dare not disagree; be silent, or be guilty!
Law abiding citizens will be accused of having thoughts that do not align with “the party” and will be stripped of their firearms with zero recourse thru the system; criminals, if they even have their firearms taken, will just go steal another one.
You will either give up your arms, or fight it and go to prison for resisting, or die in the process.
THIS IS WHAT TYRANNY LOOKS LIKE. THIS IS LIFE UNDER AN OPPRESSIVE COMMUNOFASCIST REGIME.
THIS IS AMERICA; AS A CITIZEN I HAVE THE RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS.
I HAVE THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS – THAT SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED. I HAVE THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
if one of your representatives voted yes on this bill they violated there oath of office. They disregarded the NM constitution. They lied.
I think it will put law enforcement in harm’s way. I would not like to be a law enforcement officer assigned to remove firearms from citizens in this state.
When a Communist is elected, you get Communistic Government.