By Paul Lathrop | Contributing Editor
New Mexico is facing several challenges to the Second Amendment this year, with a Democrat- controlled House and Senate pushing several measures that restrict the right to keep and bear arms.
Freshman State Rep. Stefanie Lord (R-District 22) said there are several pieces of anti-gun legislation up for consideration right now in the House. The first is HB 193, an enhancement to New Mexico’s Red Flag law, she said.
This legislation would add a punishment for Law Enforcement officers.
According to Lord, the bill’s authors “didn’t like the fact that the Sheriffs had stood up to them and said ‘These bills are ridiculous, we don’t stand with them for a multitude of reasons, and there are other ways you could have handled it through the mental health care system.’
“So they put in at the very end, ‘if you don’t (initiate an investigation) you can personally be sued,’” she said.
Lord explained the legislation would remove discretion from the officers in how they perform their duties. For example, officers would have to open an official investigation no matter whether the reporting of a “dangerous individual” comes from someone who is obviously lying or acting on a grudge.
Another enhancement to the red flag law is that the law would enable Law Enforcement to decide on the spot to initiate a Red Flag confiscation where previously they had to wait for someone to make a complaint.
Another bill, HB102, would create a violence intervention fund.
“Let me tell you what all these funds do,” Lord said. “They want a tremendous amount of money, and they say it’s for X, but X is actually funding Y, so yeah, it’s the shuffling of money.”
HB102 would also create the Firearm Injury and Death Review Committee. The committee of eight members, each appointed by the Governor, will review every shooting in the state.
HB 166, a “Ghost Gun” ban, would ban so-called 80% lower receivers and make it a felony to convert an existing 80% lower to a functioning weapon.
SB 224 states that no one under the age of 12 can touch a gun and that all firearms must be locked up at all times when not in use. Also, a child cannot handle a gun until they have attended a gun safety course. This would effectively end parents teaching their own children to shoot.
Lord could not offer much hope that any of the bills could be defeated.
“We have thirty-three counties, and the majority of them are conservative,” she said. “The problem is that they are smaller, like mine, I represent three counties. They spread it out that way, and the way they district the counties often makes it easier for a Democrat to win. We used to have conservative Democrats, and they were great, and they would vote with us most of the time on gun bills, but they are gone now, and we don’t have that.”
Democrats hold a strong majority in both the New Mexico House and Senate, as well as maintaining the Governorship.
