New Mexico isn’t a state many folks think of as either pro-gun or anti-gun. Not really. It’s just there in our minds, which is a shame because I fell in love with the state from a vacation there years ago. However, my one-time dream of relocating there has been on hold due to the state’s move to embrace gun control.

However, some residents know what’s driving this push, and they’re begging lawmakers to knock it off.

Gun control advocates are once again pushing a package of unpopular gun control bills in our state Legislature. And once again, each bill comes from the gun control wish list of New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg has been trying to impose his New York-style gun control scheme on New Mexico for years. Like a lot of Second Amendment supporters in our state, I am sick and tired of big money lobbyists trying to push us around. I urge our lawmakers to put an end to this Bloomberg nonsense. Nothing in any of these bills would make New Mexicans any safer. Bloomberg’s proposals are ineffective, intrusive and unnecessary.

Bloomberg’s wish list includes a so-called universal background check bill similar to the one New Mexico lawmakers rejected in 2017. The proposal would effectively ban all private firearms sales between law-abiding citizens. Under so-called universal background checks, honest, hardworking New Mexicans would be forced to pay undetermined fees and obtain government approval before selling a firearm to family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers, or fellow hunters, competitive shooters and gun club members. Supporters falsely claim they are targeting gun shows and online transactions. But studies by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics show that fewer than 1 percent of guns used in crimes are acquired at gun shows. Firearms purchased online already require delivery to a licensed dealer in the buyer’s home state for background checks.

Also on Bloomberg’s wish list is red flag or extreme-risk protection order legislation. This measure would allow law enforcement agents to confiscate firearms and ammunition from law-abiding individuals. Under this proposal, a person’s ex-spouse, jilted suitor or angry neighbor could make unfounded, uncorroborated and unchallenged statements against an innocent gun owner, costing them their gun rights. No one should lose the fundamental right to protect themselves without a formal hearing before a court at which they can defend themselves.

There, is, of course, far more going on, so I urge you to read the whole thing.

However, the author’s right about the issues with these bills.

Further, she’s also right about the source of many of these measures. Billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have been pushing for gun control for years now. He’s using his money to try and push for these measures in states throughout the nation. The man has never met a gun control measure he didn’t like.

But while he spends his money in states he probably never even so much as visits to try and push for disarmament of law-abiding citizens, the good people of those states are the ones who have to live with the repercussions of his efforts.