HOUSE MEMORIAL 65

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

E. Diane Torres-Velásquez and Pamelya Herndon

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, TO CONVENE A TASK FORCE TO CONDUCT RESEARCH ON HEALTH AND FIREARM SAFETY POLICY AND TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO REDUCE FIREARM VIOLENCE IN NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, firearm safety is a public issue; and

     WHEREAS, firearm violence is a public health crisis; and

     WHEREAS, a 2024 report from Johns Hopkins center for gun violence solution highlights the ongoing crisis of firearm-related deaths in the United States, including fatalities among children; and

     WHEREAS, between 2019 and 2023, firearm-related deaths were the second leading cause of death for children; and

     WHEREAS, firearm-related deaths take an average of twenty-four years away from their victims; and

     WHEREAS, domestic violence assaults involving a firearm are twelve times more than likely to result in death than those involving other weapons or bodily force; and

     WHEREAS, the collective responsibility of society is to safeguard the health and safety of its members, including from firearm harms; and

     WHEREAS, firearm violence is a complex problem that must be met with a wide range of solutions; and

     WHEREAS, firearm violence exacts an enormous toll on American society, claiming tens of thousands of lives each year; and

     WHEREAS, more than one million Americans have been shot in the past decade, and nearly everyone in the United States will know at least one victim of firearm violence in their lifetime; and

     WHEREAS, in 2023, New Mexico had the fourth highest overall firearm-related death rate in the country; and

     WHEREAS, according to the department of health, suicides rose by nine percent in 2024, with firearms accounting for sixty percent of the cases; and

     WHEREAS, alcohol misuse is highly associated with both homicides and suicides, and New Mexico ranks first for the most deaths attributable to alcohol abuse, which includes both chronic diseases like cirrhosis and injuries like homicide and suicide; and

     WHEREAS, gun violence continues to be a significant public health problem in New Mexico and in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, as global temperatures rise because of climate change, suicide rates are likely to rise as well; and

     WHEREAS, in 2023, New Mexico had the highest rate of gun suicide among young people and New Mexico had a gun suicide rate three times the national average; and

     WHEREAS, research has shown a significant intersection between gun violence and alcohol accessibility and misuse; and

     WHEREAS, there have been two thousand nine hundred eighty-one school shooting incidents from 1966 to 2025 in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, during the 2024-2025 school year, the Albuquerque public school district recovered fifteen firearms;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of health, in collaboration with the department of public safety, be requested to convene a task force to conduct research on health and firearm safety policy and to make recommendations to reduce firearm violence in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force review and consider the following:

          A. effective firearm licensing laws and regulations;

          B. effective policies on semiautomatic and large capacity magazines;

          C. data demonstrating the effects of identifying if any group should be prohibited by law from owning or purchasing a firearm, especially relating to previous driving while intoxicated convictions;

          D. alignment of state and federal laws on the consequences of a felon in possession of a firearm;

          E. tobacco and firearms licensing prior to granting a new retail license of a new gun or liquor stores; and

          F. consideration of toxicology in perpetrators of gun violence; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be composed of representatives from the department of health; the department of public safety; health care entities and hospitals; the children, youth and families department; the public education department; the New Mexico school boards association; community and prevention stakeholders; the administrative office of the courts; police chiefs of Albuquerque, Las Cruces or Santa Fe; the Albuquerque community safety department; moms demand action for gun sense in America; and Indian nations, tribes and pueblos in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the task force be requested to report its findings and conclusions to the representatives of the task force, the interim legislative committee dealing with courts, corrections and justice issues and the legislative health and human services committee by September 15, 2026; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of health, the secretary of public safety and the governor.

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