By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Democrat Albuquerque, N.M. Mayor Tim Keller has declared war on guns, telling his constituents during his annual “State of the City” address over the weekend, “This summer we are cracking down on guns. We are going to triangulate existing restrictions around schools to aggressively target any crime with a gun anywhere in downtown Albuquerque.”
His comments came days after a killer opened fire in Farmington, killing three people and wounding several others before being shot dead by responding police. CNN identified the gunman as Beau Wilson.
In the aftermath of that incident, according to KOB News, “more elected leaders are calling for stricter gun control and enhancing criminal charges.” The station reported that Democrats “have made the most noise” about gun control, which has not gotten much traction in the Legislature. In a message from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, she promised she will “not stop fighting for laws that prevent additional gun violence. She will continue to pursue an assault weapons sales ban as well as legislation to raise the purchasing age for firearms and enabling citizens to sue gun manufacturers. Governor Lujan Grisham is calling on lawmakers to find solutions that save lives.”
Ironically, one state lawmaker who is not clamoring for more gun laws is State Rep. Mark Duncan (R-Farmington), whose aunt (on his wife’s side of the family), Melody Ivie and her mother, Gwendolyn Schofield, 98, were victims of the Farmington shooting. According to the KOB report, Duncan “doesn’t believe gun control is the answer.” Instead, the report said he looks at this as a mental health issue
Still, crime in Albuquerque is down this year, according to KRQE News. Mayor Keller noted violent crime is down 8 percent and property crime is down 140 percent. Over the past 17 months, he said, 170 murder suspects have been arrested, and Albuquerque police are apprehending more violent crime suspects.
State lawmakers are reportedly preparing to reintroduce several pieces of gun control legislation which have failed previously. State Rep. Andrea Romero’s bill from the last session to regulate so-called “assault weapons” might be among them. Quoted by KOB News, Romero mouthed rhetoric from the gun control lobby: “We are seeing these perpetrated crimes with these automatic weapons of war across the country and of course we saw the weapon being used in Farmington was an AR-15, and that would have fallen under an assault weapons ban.”
In Albuquerque, Mayor Keller reportedly isn’t waiting for the Legislature to act. However, he may run head-on into Article II, Section 6 of the New Mexico State Constitution, which reads: “No law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes, but nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons. No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.”
