CONTROVERSIAL GUN BILL MOVES AHEAD

From left, Damon Martinez with the District Attorney’s Office, Albuquerque Police Department Cmdr. Luke Languit and Rep. Pamelya Herndon listen Monday as audience members speak out against House Bill 9 during a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee at the Roundhouse. Following three hours of debate, members of the committee voted 7-4 to approve the bill which would hold adults criminally responsible if children or teens access their firearms. The bill, sponsored by Herndon, D-Albuquerque, would make it a misdemeanor for negligently making a firearm accessible to a minor and make it a fourth-degree felony for negligently making it accessible to a minor resulting in great bodily harm or death.