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SENATE BILL 256
57
TH LEGISLATURE
-
STATE
OF
NEW
MEXICO
-
FIRST SESSION
,
2025
INTRODUCED BY
Anthony L. Thornton and Nicholas A. Paul
AN ACT
RELATING TO SCHOOL SAFETY; ENACTING THE SCHOOL TEACHERS ON-SITE
PROTECTION ACT; REQUIRING THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
CONDUCT SCHOOL EMPLOYEE FIREARM TRAINING; ESTABLISHING
PROCEDURES FOR SCHOOL EMPLOYEES TO BE LICENSED AND APPOINTED TO
CARRY HANDGUNS ON SCHOOL PREMISES; ADDING SCHOOL EMPLOYEES
LICENSED AND APPOINTED TO CARRY A HANDGUN TO EXCEPTIONS TO
UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF A DEADLY WEAPON ON SCHOOL PREMISES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. A new section of the Public School Code is
enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1 through 4 of this
act may be cited as the "School Teachers On-Site Protection
Act"."
SECTION 2. A new section of the Public School Code is
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enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the School
Teachers On-Site Protection Act:
A. "appointed school employee" means a school
employee who has successfully completed the school employee
firearm training program, is licensed to carry a handgun
pursuant to the Concealed Handgun Carry Act and is appointed by
the local superintendent of a school district or head
administrator of a charter school to carry a handgun on school
premises; and
B. "trainee" means a person who is licensed to
carry a handgun pursuant to the Concealed Handgun Carry Act and
is a participant in the school employee firearm training
program."
SECTION 3. A new section of the Public School Code is
enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] SCHOOL EMPLOYEE FIREARM TRAINING AND
LICENSURE PROGRAM.--
A. The department of public safety shall establish
and maintain a school employee firearm training program open to
any employee of a school district, charter school or private
school who holds a license to carry a handgun issued under the
Concealed Handgun Carry Act. The training shall be conducted
by department of public safety staff or a provider approved by
the department of public safety.
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B. The department of public safety shall collect
from each employee who participates in the school employee
firearm training program identifying information that includes
the person's name and date of birth, the license number of the
license issued to the person pursuant to the Concealed Handgun
Carry Act and the address of the school district, charter
school or private school that employs the person.
C. The school employee firearm training program
shall include forty hours of instruction designed to:
(1) emphasize strategies for preventing school
shootings and for securing the safety of potential victims of
school shootings;
(2) educate a trainee about legal issues
relating to the duties of peace officers and the use of force
or deadly force in the protection of others;
(3) introduce the trainee to effective law
enforcement strategies and techniques;
(4) improve the trainee's proficiency with a
handgun; and
(5) enable the trainee to respond to an
emergency situation requiring deadly force, such as a situation
involving an active shooter.
D. The department of public safety, in consultation
with a psychologist or psychiatrist, shall devise and
administer a psychological examination to each trainee to
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determine whether the trainee is psychologically fit to carry
out the duties of an appointed school employee in an emergency
shooting or active shooter situation.
E. The department of public safety shall charge
each trainee a reasonable fee to cover the cost of conducting
the school employee firearm training program.
F. The department of public safety shall issue a
school employee firearm license to a trainee who is eligible
for appointment to carry a firearm on school premises if the
trainee:
(1) completes training under this section to
the satisfaction of department of public safety staff; and
(2) is psychologically fit to carry out the
duties of an appointed school employee as indicated by the
results of the psychological examination administered under
this section.
G. A school employee firearm license issued or
renewed pursuant to the provisions of the School Teachers On-
Site Protection Act shall expire on July 31 following the
second anniversary of the date the department of public safety
issued that license.
H. A school employee licensed to carry a firearm on
school premises may renew a school employee firearm license by:
(1) successfully completing a school employee
firearm license renewal course designed and administered by the
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department of public safety that shall not exceed sixteen hours
of combined classroom and simulation training;
(2) demonstrating appropriate knowledge on an
examination designed and administered by the department of
public safety;
(3) demonstrating handgun proficiency to the
satisfaction of department of public safety staff; and
(4) demonstrating psychological fitness on the
examination described in Subsection D of this section.
I. The department of public safety shall revoke a
person's school employee firearm license if the person's
license to carry a handgun issued pursuant to the Concealed
Handgun Carry Act has been suspended or revoked. A person
whose school employee firearm license is revoked may obtain
recertification by:
(1) furnishing proof that the person's handgun
license pursuant to the Concealed Handgun Carry Act has been
reinstated; and
(2) completing the initial training pursuant
to Subsection C of this section to the satisfaction of
department of public safety staff, paying the fee for the
training and demonstrating psychological fitness on the
psychological examination described in Subsection D of this
section.
J. For each person issued a school employee firearm
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license, the department of public safety shall submit the
identifying information collected pursuant to Subsection B of
this section to the:
(1) secretary of public safety;
(2) school district, charter school or private
school that employs the person; and
(3) chief law enforcement officer of the local
municipal law enforcement agency where the school district,
charter school or private school is located; provided that when
there is no municipal law enforcement agency, identifying
information shall be submitted to the county sheriff in the
county in which the school district, charter school or private
school is located.
K. The department of public safety shall
immediately report the expiration or revocation of a school
employee firearm license to each entity listed in Subsection J
of this section.
L. Information collected or submitted under this
section is submitted for security purposes as part of a
confidential tactical plan or procedure and shall not be
disclosed in a request made pursuant to the Inspection of
Public Records Act."
SECTION 4. A new section of the Public School Code is
enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] SCHOOL EMPLOYEE APPOINTMENT AND HANDGUN
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CARRYING PROCEDURES.--
A. The local superintendent of a school district or
head administrator of a charter school may appoint one or more
school employees to carry handguns for each school campus.
B. The school district or charter school may
reimburse the amount paid by the appointed school employee to
participate in the school employee firearm training program
pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 of the School Teachers
On-Site Protection Act.
C. A school district or charter school that
appoints a school employee to carry a handgun on school
premises shall enact policies to provide for the safe carrying
of a concealed handgun by the school employee, and the policies
shall require that:
(1) an appointed school employee may carry a
concealed handgun on the school employee's person or possess
the handgun on the physical premises of a school in a locked
and secured safe or other locked and secured location; and
(2) a handgun carried or possessed by a
licensed and appointed school employee may be loaded only with
frangible duty ammunition approved for that purpose by the
department of public safety.
D. An appointed school employee may carry a
concealed handgun or possess a handgun on the physical premises
of a school; provided that:
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(1) the appointed school employee shall act in
accordance with the policies for carrying a handgun by school
employees adopted by the school district or charter school; and
(2) the appointed school employee shall only
carry a concealed handgun at the specific school as specified
in writing by the local superintendent of the school district
or the head administrator of the charter school.
E. An appointed school employee may use a handgun
that the appointed school employee is authorized to carry or
possess only under circumstances that would justify the use of
deadly force pursuant to Section 30-2-7 NMSA 1978.
F. A school district or charter school employee's
status as an appointed school employee to carry a handgun on
school premises becomes inactive upon:
(1) expiration of the employee's school
employee firearm license;
(2) suspension or revocation of the employee's
license to carry a handgun issued pursuant to the Concealed
Handgun Carry Act;
(3) termination of the employee's employment
with the school district or charter school; or
(4) written notice from the school district or
charter school that the employee's services as an appointed
school employee are no longer required.
G. The identity of an appointed school employee
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under this section is part of a confidential tactical plan or
procedure and shall not be disclosed in a request made pursuant
to the Inspection of Public Records Act."
SECTION 5. Section 30-7-2.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1987,
Chapter 232, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:
"30-7-2.1. UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF A DEADLY WEAPON ON SCHOOL
PREMISES.--
A. Unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon on school
premises consists of carrying a deadly weapon on school
premises except by:
(1) a peace officer;
(2) school security personnel;
(3) a student, instructor or other school-
authorized personnel engaged in army, navy, marine corps or air
force reserve officer training corps programs or state-
authorized hunter safety training instruction;
(4) a school employee licensed and appointed
to carry a handgun on school premises pursuant to the School
Teachers On-Site Protection Act;
[(4)] (5) a person conducting or participating
in a school-approved program, class or other activity involving
the carrying of a deadly weapon; or
[(5)] (6) a person older than nineteen years
of age on school premises in a private automobile or other
private means of conveyance, for lawful protection of the
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person's or another's person or property.
B. As used in this section, "school premises"
means:
(1) the buildings and grounds, including
playgrounds, playing fields and parking areas and any school
bus of any public elementary, secondary, junior high or high
school in or on which school or school-related activities are
being operated under the supervision of a local school board;
or
(2) any other public buildings or grounds,
including playing fields and parking areas that are not public
school property, in or on which public school-related and
sanctioned activities are being performed.
C. Whoever commits unlawful carrying of a deadly
weapon on school premises is guilty of a fourth degree felony."
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