New Mexico Background Check Bill Passes Despite Sheriff Protests

AP Photo/Morgan Lee

One would think that when it comes to a gun control law if a pile of your state’s chief law enforcement officers is protesting the bill, it may not be the slam dunk for public safety you think it represents.

Advertisement

Of course, as noted previously, New Mexico Democrats don’t care what their county sheriffs have to say.

Instead, the state passed its universal background check bill.

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pushed back Tuesday against “rogue” county sheriffs who object to a state legislative proposal to expand background checks on firearms sales.

The state House and Senate have approved nearly identical bills to expand background checks to almost all private gun sales in New Mexico, and the House on Tuesday pushed forward with final approval of a Senate version that exempts gun sales to relatives including aunts, uncles and cousins.

The background-check bill is part of a slate of Democrat-sponsored proposals designed to stem gun violence that have drawn criticism from all but a few of the state’s sheriffs, while at least 18 counties have adopted “sanctuary” resolutions that say sheriffs should not be required to enforce any measures they consider unconstitutional.

Additional bills are advancing through the Democrat-led Legislature that would allow judges to authorize removing guns from people who may be suicidal or bent on violence, expand child neglect laws to encompass the secure storage of household firearms and ban gun possession for people under permanent protective orders for domestic violence.

Outside Tuesday’s legislative hearing, Lincoln County Sheriff Robert Shepperd said background checks would only be feasible with the creation of a statewide gun registry, and insisted that would clearly violate Second Amendment protections.

Advertisement

That’s because, ultimately, it would require a registry.

You can’t account for who bought what when if you don’t know who has what now. That means a registry, and that means problems.

Of course, that’s only if the law is enforced. If it isn’t, it’s nothing more than words on a page. With so many counties vowing to refuse to enforce the law, it will make it even more difficult to enforce it anywhere. After all, someone can claim they made the transaction in a county that refused to perform the check. What could they do?

That will create judicial nightmares for years to come.

But anti-gunners aren’t interested in listening to our legitimate concerns. They want to stomp all over the Second Amendment and screw the consequences. That’s why they keep pushing for failed laws over and over again. Universal background checks in California didn’t stop the Borderline Bar & Grill shooting, for example, nor did any of that state’s plethora of gun laws.

Why would it do so in New Mexico?

The thing is, it’s not really about stopping bad people from doing bad things. I’m sure some of the gullible think it is, but for some, it’s a matter of they don’t think that you or I can be trusted with guns. They don’t have control over an armed population and they know it. They just can’t pass sweeping gun bans.

Advertisement

Instead, they pass stuff like this.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member