Voters in Lea County, New Mexico decide Tuesday on a gross receipts tax hike in unincorporated areas to pay for lawsuits against state firearm limits. Commissioners put the item on the ballot in August by unanimous vote after State Representative Randall Pettigrew asked for it.

The extra one cent on every one hundred dollars of taxable sales could produce about nine hundred thousand dollars a year for court fights over measures that bar guns near polling sites and impose a seven-day wait to buy firearms. Pettigrew said residents should be able to spend a little more to protect Second Amendment rights from Santa Fe statutes. A local legal analyst warned the fund could clash with New Mexico rules against public money aiding private parties, depending on how officials use it.