Dear Friend,

From the evidence brought forward by the January 6th Select Committee hearings to defending our reproductive freedom nationwide, there has been a lot of important news coming out of Washington, D.C. I wanted to make sure that you saw some big news on landmark gun safety legislation that we passed last week that will protect New Mexicans. 

Every year, New Mexico loses an average of 433 people to gun violence, devastating communities and families across our state. That’s why last Friday, I voted to pass the first significant bipartisan gun safety legislation in three decades to better protect New Mexico’s kids, communities, and survivors of domestic violence. The Safer Communities Act was signed into law this past weekend by President Biden.  

Among other important provisions, the Safer Communities Act closes the dating partner loophole, enhances background checks, bans gun trafficking, and invests significant resources in community safety and mental health programs. 

Furthermore, the Safer Communities Act will: 

• Protect Survivors of Domestic Violence: Closes the dating partner loophole by adding convicted domestic violence abusers in dating relationships to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.  
• Create Penalties for Straw Purchasing: Creates federal straw purchasing and gun trafficking criminal offenses, allowing prosecutors to target dangerous illegal gunrunners. 
• Ban Gun Trafficking: Cracks down on criminals who illegally evade licensing requirements and clarifies which sellers need to register, conduct background checks, and keep appropriate records.  
• Enhance Background Checks for People Under 21: Requires an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement, for buyers under 21 years of age, creating an enhanced, longer background check of up to ten days.  
• Invest in Anti-Violence Community Initiatives: Provides $250 million in funding for community-based violence prevention initiatives.  
• Support State Crisis Intervention Orders: Creates $750 million for states to create and administer laws that will ensure deadly weapons are kept out of the hands of individuals determined by a court. 

While I was proud to vote for this bill, we know our work is not done. This bipartisan legislation will go a long way to protect New Mexicans—but we need to do more to protect our children and community members across the state and nation.  

This legislation would not have been possible without every day I am so grateful to our activists, parents, students, and my colleagues in the Senate for helping to get this bill past the finish line, breaking three decades of inaction on comprehensive gun safety. Now, our work continues to ensure that our communities are safe. 

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As always, if I can be of any assistance to you or your family, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or my staff at (505) 346-6781. If you’d like to keep up to date on what I am working on in Washington on behalf of New Mexico’s First Congressional District and our communities, you can subscribe to our newsletter here, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

Sincerely,



Melanie A. Stansbury
Member of Congress