New Mexico House Bill 9, better known as the Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act, to be signed into law Tuesday
SANTA FE, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is scheduled to sign the Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act into law at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
NM House Bill 9 was passed by the NM House of Representatives on February 9th. The act will make the negligent access of a firearm to a minor a misdemeanor.
The act is named after Bennie Hargrove, a 13-year-old student at Washington Middle School in Albuquerque who was shot and killed by another student that took a gun to school, according to police.
That incident took place back in 2021.
Dr. Jagdish Khubchandani, a public health and safety professor at New Mexico State University, co-authored studies that found states with child access prevention laws similar to the Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act have lower gun-related deaths amongst children.
"We have shown nationwide that states with the law have lower deaths of children, which theoretically also makes sense," said Khubchandani back in February when ABC-7 spoke with him.
"If parents store their guns properly, and adults refused access to children for guns, children are less likely to have a gun and play around and shoot each other," Khubchandani added.
