Summary:

 Senate Bill 255 (SB 255) creates the crime of facilitation of the unlawful sale of a firearm without a background check, increases the penalty for unlawful sale of a firearm without a background check, and adds these crimes to the definition of “Racketeering”.  

Legislation Overview:

 Senate Bill 255 (SB 255) first amends Section 30-7-7.1 NMSA 1978, the statute containing the crime of unlawfully selling a firearm without a background check. 
SB 255 creates the new third degree felony offense of facilitation of the unlawful sale of a firearm without a background check.  This crime is committed when a person allows or fails to prevent an unlawful firearm sale through the operation of a publicly available platform where steps could have been taken to block or limit this sale but the sale was not prevented (either by action or inaction).  The bill requires that the “steps” that the platform could have taken must be reasonable, industry standard steps.  Each firearm sold contrary to this provision constitutes a separate offense. 
Second, the bill increases the penalty for unlawfully selling a firearm without a background check from a misdemeanor to a third degree felony. 
Third, SB 255 amends Section 30-42-3 NMSA 1978 of the Racketeering Act by amending the definition of “racketeering” to include the crimes of unlawful sale of a firearm without a background check and the facilitation of the unlawful sale of a firearm without a background check.  “Racketeering” is any act that is chargeable under the laws of New Mexico and punishable by imprisonment for more than one year and must involve a listed offense. 

Current Law:

 Currently, unlawfully selling a firearm without a background check is a misdemeanor and it is not a crime to facilitate this offense.