65% of New Mexico voters surveyed – including 62% of gun owners – support secure storage legislation
New Everytown polling shows that the majority of voters in New Mexico, including gun owners, want stronger gun safety laws and support legislation to require secure firearm storage. The poll surveyed over 1,200 people across the state. In addition, a new analysis shows that while New Mexico gun laws rank number 16 in the country and the state has strong gun laws, it’s missing a foundational gun safety law – secure firearm storage legislation.
“This polling confirms what we have known for years: New Mexicans want stronger gun laws and support policies to require secure firearm storage,” said Bre Potter, a volunteer leader with the New Mexico chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Gun safety is not only good policy, it’s good politics. Lawmakers should use this polling as a roadmap for priorities this session and our upcoming election.”
For years, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers have been advocating at the Roundhouse for gun safety laws. This year, volunteers are testifying, emailing, calling, and using social media to support HB 9, legislation to require firearms to be securely stored away from children, with bipartisan support and HB 96, legislation to create a $10 million violence intervention program fund to provide grants to state agencies, counties, municipalities, and tribal governments – which would be a first for the state.
Toplines of the Poll include:
- Secure Storage
- 65% of New Mexico voters surveyed – including 62% of gun owners – support requiring gun owners to securely store firearms when they are not under their direct control in order to prevent children or others from using their gun and harming themselves or others.
- 69% of New Mexico voters surveyed – including 66% of gun owners – support requiring guns be locked up when unattended in a car.
- Violence Intervention Programs
- 59% of New Mexico voters surveyed – including 58% of gun owners – support the use of state funding to create community-based violence intervention programs which are proven to reduce the amount of gun violence and homicides in cities.
The polling also showed strong support for background check legislation, closing the Charleston Loophole, keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, and regulating ghost guns in the state. Respondents also rejected the gun lobby’s guns everywhere agenda by strongly supporting measures restricting guns at protests, the Roundhouse, schools, bars and nightclubs.
The poll is available here and more information about gun violence in New Mexico is available here. To speak with a volunteer leader with Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action about their work in the state, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
