"NEGLECTED CHILD" DEFINITION

HB 470 amends New Mexico's definition of a "neglected child" in the Abuse and Neglect Act to explicitly include situations where a parent, guardian, or custodian negligently allows a child unsupervised access to a firearm or other deadly weapon. This change directly affects caregivers who fail to secure weapons, making such negligence a specific factor in determining child neglect under state law. The bill adds this scenario as a new subsection (6) to the existing definition, clarifying that caregivers can be deemed negligent if they don’t prevent children from accessing dangerous weapons without supervision. It does not create new penalties but adjusts how neglect is legally defined for child welfare cases. The bill was referred to committees but was postponed indefinitely in June 2025.