Santa Fe, NM — Senator Craig Brandt (R-Rio Rancho) has pre-filed a measure that, if passed, would elevate to a felony the issuing of a shooting threat. It also includes the creation of a new crime and new penalties for 'swatting,' which is the making of a false report of a serious crime or threat which provokes a serious police response (eg, deploying a SWAT team) on an innocent and unsuspecting party. These increasingly common occurrences are extremely dangerous both for law enforcement and the parties involved. Currently, a shooting threat is only a misdemeanor in New Mexico while 'swatting' is not an offense at all. The pre-filed legislation can be found in the index of Senate pre-files.
Senator Brandt has issued the accompanying statement:
"I am proud to bring back this bill. There is no reason why we should treat a shooting threat as any less serious than a bomb threat." The Senator continued, "This commonsense proposal is key to ensuring we improve public safety, especially for our children in school, where threats of violence must be taken seriously and dealt with swiftly. There's a lot of talk in Santa Fe about improving 'public safety,' but it's time we take action by enacting these simple solutions to actually make our communities safer."
