SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A high school student and recent graduate are urging New Mexico lawmakers to adopt a child access prevention law to hold gun owners accountable for the safe storage of firearms.
Santa Fe-area high school student Julia Mazal on Wednesday told a panel of legislators that there is no excuse for the negligent storage of guns with the knowledge that a firearm could fall into the hands of a child and result in tragedy.
She and recent high school graduate Lia Fukuda say youths who perpetrated recent shooting rampages in New Mexico and Texas obtained guns from home.
A failed state bill introduced in 2016 would have created criminal penalties and civil liability for negligent storage of firearms when the owner should have known a minor would have access.