SANTA FE, N.M. – If you want to buy a gun in New Mexico there will be a mandatory seven-day waiting period that goes into effect next week. 

New Mexican Republicans tried to file a referendum to let voters decide if they wanted that week-long waiting period, but our Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said “No.”

Sen. Craig Brandt pushed for the referendum. He says the rejection is a direct hit on New Mexicans’ constitutional rights.

“We hear the Democrats all the time talking about democratic process and democracy and how Trump’s ruining democracy, or how the Republicans are ruining democracy. Well, and the fact of the matter is, in this situation, our Secretary of State is the one that’s keeping people from having a right to vote on this bill,” said Brandt. 

Secretary of State Communications Director Alex Curtas says it was rejected because, under New Mexico law, there are specific criteria for the referendum review process.

“There’s a specific exception within the law that says any law that is particularly about something to do with public peace, health, or safety is exempt from that process. So there are other laws that could go through this process. But a firearm-related law is pretty clearly about public safety and health, so it’s exempted from that process,” said Curtas. 

But Brandt disagrees and argues a waiting period isn’t about public safety.

“She’s just automatically rejected it saying it’s about public safety, peace, welfare. Nothing about this was public safety. There’s not a single shred of evidence, there’s not a single study that shows that a seven-day waiting period will make the community any safer, or has in any other state that it’s already being done. So, you know, she just kind of uses that as her catch-all,” Brandt said. 

Brandt says the next step would be to file a federal lawsuit. But, right now, there are no plans to take that type of action.

Another option would be reviewing New Mexico’s Constitution.

“If there is a change in the law that broadens the scope of what laws are allowed to be subject to the referendum petition process, you know, that would be the will of the Legislature and the people presumably. And so we would just, you know, follow that guidance and those steps if those were in place. But the Secretary of State at this point is just following the law as it’s written,” said Curtas. 

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 129 into law back in March. It goes into effect May 15. 

According to the governor, that’s double the current waiting period required by the federal government. The sale of a firearm without the waiting period or before those seven days are up would become an unlawful sale. 

New Mexico will join at least 12 other states when HB 129 goes into effect May 15.

The other measure Lujan Grisham signed in March bans guns from polling locations. Firearms wouldn’t be allowed within 100 feet of polling places and ballot drop boxes. There are exceptions for law enforcement and concealed carry permit holders.

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Reparations for New Mexicans impacted by nuclear weapons testing could be held up in the GOP-led House of Representatives after the U.S. Senate passed a bill in March to provide payments to those suffering health impacts tied to the tests.

The U.S.’ first nuclear bomb was tested in New Mexico in 1945 at the Trinity Site near Alamogordo, setting off a generational wave of cancers and other health impacts for nearby residents. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) passed in 1990 to fund federal payments to those who could prove their health was impacted by weapons testing but did not include reparations for New Mexicans near the Trinity Site.

That could change thanks to legislation sponsored by U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan to expand RECA to include New Mexico residents near the test, known as “downwinders.” The law currently provides payments to downwinders of the Nevada Test Site in multiple states.

After passing the Senate, supporters of the bill urged the U.S. House and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to take up and pass the measure before the law’s funding sunsets in about a month on June 7.

Lujan, along with Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and several other members of the chamber including GOP senators along with U.S. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) and Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) and members of the House, penned a letter to Johnson demanding the bill be moved on to President Joe Biden’s desk to become law.

The letter pointed to the Oscar-winning film “Oppenheimer” released in July 2023 about the events at Trinity to show an increased awareness for the test and its potential impacts on the New Mexican people.

“The landmark film Oppenheimer has brought renewed attention to these events, particularly highlighting the first nuclear explosion in New Mexico in 1945,” the letter read. “The ‘downwinders,’ along with those involved in uranium mining, milling and transportation, are still enduring the health impacts from their exposure to this radiation.”

The lawmakers argued the nuclear test exposed nearby residents to radiation, creating illnesses passed through generations that many are still struggling with today.

“Their livelihoods, often devastated by the long-term consequences of radiation exposure, depend on your leadership and commitment to rectifying past injustices. Let us honor the commitment we made to these citizens by ensuring they receive the support and recognition they so rightly deserve,” read the letter.

More: US Senate OKs funding bill for New Mexicans impacted by Trinity Site

GOP bill extends but does not expand nuclear testing reparations

A Republican-led bill sponsored by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) was introduced in April to extend the RECA program for two more years but did not add language to allow New Mexicans to receive payments or expand the program to any other communities.

“When the government harms people, victims should be able to receive compensation. Downwinders and others harmed by the nation’s early atomic program often suffer the consequences of exposure decades after the fact,” Lee said in a statement.

The omission of New Mexico downwinders was a sticking point for the Union of Concerned Scientists. The national organization called Lee’s bill a “slap in the face” to downwinders in New Mexico and other states impacted by nuclear testing.

“I would ask Senator Lee: how do we decide who deserves to be taken care of and who doesn’t? Who gets to make these decisions? Why are people in certain zip codes considered more important than others?” said Tina Cordova, founder of the New Mexico Downwinders Consortium and a native of Tularosa.

She said it was Congress’ and the federal government’s duty to repay New Mexicans and other impacted for the health of affects of nuclear weapons in the U.S.

“We urgently need for our government to take responsibility for the egregious harm that was done to American citizens, including children, when nuclear testing was taking place in the American west and the Pacific,” Cordova said.

“Not only did that testing negatively affect the health of those alive at the time, it destined our children and grandchildren forevermore to a life never free of the genetic damage associated with our overexposure to radiation. I can think of no other act that is more immoral than this.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.