New Mexico Democrats had put forward a bill that would have held parents responsible for anything their children did with a firearm that was not secured in the home, this bill appears to have now completely fallen flat.
The highly controversial legislation, House Bill 9 or the Bennie Hargrove Act, was set to hold parents responsible for the actions of their children if the parent did not properly secure their firearm. The legislation was not specific in describing what a secured firearm was, it seemed as if it meant that if the parents had a firearm they could be held liable for anything that their child did with that firearm.
This legislation was officially tabled in a 13-5 vote much to the dismay of the legislation’s author, Representative Pameyla Herndon. Rep. Herndon said that the vote to table the legislation was unfair and that the House Appropriations and Finance Committee killed the legislation because of its merits, not its financial impact.
“My first reaction was, committee let’s look at your responsibility and what you are in charge with looking at,” Rep. Herndon said in a statement. “I’m not sure why they went astray from what their focus was and the focus is on financing. So that is still a puzzle to me and I don’t know why that happened.”
This legislation is dead in the water and it probably will not be rearing its head again anytime soon. No parent wants to be held liable for the actions of their children, especially when those actions are criminal, or evil. The conversation about nurture vs. nature is an ongoing one in the world of psychology and there will be no formal end to the conversation anytime soon, as a result of that legislation like HB 9 in New Mexico must be stopped.
