Lea County voters have signed off on a new gross receipts tax dedicated entirely to funding legal fights against gun laws the county views as unconstitutional. The measure passed with 55% support among 12,166 voters, creating what's being called a Second Amendment defense nest egg for the oil-patch county in southeastern New Mexico.
The 0.01% levy will push Lea County's gross receipts tax rate from 5.25% to 5.26%, according to the Albuquerque Journal. KOAT reports that increase applies outside incorporated communities such as Hobbs and Lovington. Lea County's current minimum combined sales tax rate sits at 5.25%, per Avalara.
Money raised through the tax is meant to pay for an attorney who could potentially challenge laws deemed to restrict gun rights, the newspaper's reporting indicates. Exactly how much that attorney fund will hold each year remains uncertain: the Journal reports Lea County Manager Corey Needham estimated the levy could generate $1.3 million to $1.6 million annually, while he told the other outlet the increase could generate nearly $1 million a year for the defense fund.
No Sunset Clause, No Timeline Yet
The tax levy carries no sunset provision, meaning it won't automatically expire, according to the Journal's reporting. But when residents will actually start paying it remains unclear. New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department spokesperson Megan Gleason told the paper the agency had not yet received official documentation from Lea County about the increase and had not determined the tax's effective date.
The measure landed on the ballot after Lea County commissioners voted unanimously to add it in August, per the station's report. State Rep. Randall Pettigrew, a Republican representing Lovington, asked the county commission to put the question before voters. Pettigrew said the proposal creates a county fund to defend residents' gun rights. Commissioner Dee Ann Kimbro voted in favor of putting the tax question on the ballot, telling the Journal she would personally vote against the tax herself but supported residents' right to choose.
Backdrop of State Gun Law Fights
The push for a legal defense fund follows years of friction between Lea County and state gun legislation. New Mexico lawmakers signed Senate Bill 5 into law in 2024, restricting firearm possession around polling places, and also enacted House Bill 129 that same year, establishing a mandatory seven-day waiting period for firearm purchases. House Bill 129 has faced subsequent court challenges, the Journal notes.
Those challenges have continued escalating at the federal level. Gun rights organizations filed a new federal lawsuit challenging New Mexico's seven-day waiting period, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. The suit seeks to expand coverage of a federal judge's ruling to include all of the plaintiff organizations and their members, not just the individuals who filed the original case. That August order had barred enforcement of the waiting period specifically for the two people who brought the first lawsuit. New Mexico's governor and attorney general had already filed a notice of appeal of that ruling the previous month, the paper reported.
The underlying rule at issue, N.M. Stat. § 30-7-7.3, requires seven calendar days between a firearm sale and transfer to the buyer, according to an opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Local frustration over such laws has shown up beyond the courtroom, too. A Second Amendment rally at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe this past February drew more than 100 people, with Bryan Small and Dennis Smith among the participants, per the Journal's account.
Whether Lea County's new fund will actually end up financing a lawsuit, and against which law, remains to be seen. For now, voters have simply agreed to start setting money aside.
