Fight over guns transcends party politics

RIO ARRIBA COUNTY – John Villareal, an electrician whose family has owned ranchland in Alcalde for a century, pops into La Cocina New Mexican restaurant in downtown Española on a recent day to catch up with his cousin – a regular at the restaurant who always sits in the same corner table. Villareal isn’t shy about how he feels about the gun bills making their way through the Roundhouse. He said he has called his county commissioner and his state senator to express his worries that the bills would pave the way for the government to take his guns – which he counts by ticking off his fingers. “Anytime we go camping or we go fishing, you just never know what you’re going to encounter,” Villareal said. “I like to have the option of having (a gun) without any restrictions. If I’m going down the road and I have it and I get pulled over, I don’t want to be questioned about why I have a weapon.” It’s a common sentiment in Española and Rio Arriba County. Despite having one of the highest percentages of registered Democrats for counties in New Mexico, Rio Arriba has joined more than 20 counties and municipalities throughout the state in recent weeks in passing resolutions opposing proposed gun legislation and declaring themselves a “Second Amendment Sanctuary.”..MORE