The issue of crime prevention is something everyone should at least be willing to talk about. After all, violent crime is surging and has been for the last year and a half. This after decades of decline.

For lawmakers, the need to DO SOMETHING (TM) is strong, so it’s unsurprising that lawmakers in New Mexico have crafted a plan to try and address the issue.

Among some decent ideas, though, is gun control.

Amid calls from the governor and many in the community, 18 New Mexico House Democrats released a list of proposals Thursday aimed mostly at reducing gun violence, laying out the kind of bills they think the legislature should pass in the next session.

Rep. Moe Maestas, representing District 16 in Bernalillo County, says they’re motivated directly by the record-high number of violent crimes this year in Albuquerque.

The announcement is, in some ways, unusual. It’s early for an agenda release, and this January there will be a shorter session (30 days), which often doesn’t cover much besides the state budget.

“We must have a legislative response even though it’s a governor, 30-day session. Normally you wait until the next 60 days to run your bills. We’re not waiting. We’re putting these ideas on the table, and we’re going to do everything in our power as a citizen legislature to lower the crime rate here in New Mexico,” Maestas said.

…

GUN CONTROL AND SAFETY

• Penalizing gun owners who don’t safely store guns leading to kids accessing them
• Limiting magazine sizes

Now, there are actually some decent ideas in addition to these, including funding for better pretrial supervision and provisions to keep “dangerous criminals” locked up as they await trial. Additionally, there’s an effort to fund things that may prevent even non-violent crime, like better funding for street lights.

Some of the ideas are good, some are probably wastes of money, but then there had to be gun control. Democrats can’t stick to measures that might actually get Republican support and possibly make a difference. Oh no, they have to punish gun owners.

First, penalizing people for improperly storing guns and leading to kids accessing them is one of those measures that, frankly, won’t make any impact. This isn’t about crime and it never was. This is something Democrats have been pushing for a while now that has nothing to do with crime prevention.

And limiting magazine sizes has no bearing on crime, either. Again, this is something Democrats have been pushing for decades and they’re trying to use the current situation to make them happen.

See, whether a gun holds 10 or 15 rounds makes no difference. Why? Because a study looking at the number of shots fired by criminals found that the average may be higher for a semi-automatic handgun, but it was still less than four rounds. Yes, that was in New Jersey, but the limit at the time was 15 rounds in a magazine, not the current 10, so it was in-line with what most guns actually carry.

What this study suggests, though, is that limiting magazine capacity won’t actually have an impact on crime because most criminals never fire a full magazine.

But again, this is what anti-Second Amendment jihadists do when it comes to guns. They try to sneak things in and hope we don’t know any better.