Locals, gun rights group oppose NM gun control bill

A New Mexico gun rights advocacy group and local Republican legislators Wednesday voiced firm opposition to a proposed gun safety bill endorsed by the governor and some Democratic lawmakers. For an hour and a half on Wednesday, local officials and representatives from the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association railed against the so-called red flag bill at a legislative strategy session, hosted by the group at the New Mexico Fish and Game office in Roswell. Zachary Fort, president of the Shooting Sports Association, said thwarting passage of the bill is his group’s top priority in the coming legislative session. “We want to see it defeated. We are not just trying to amend it, we want to see the bill defeated plain and simple,” Fort said. The Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act, also known as Senate Bill 5, would allow law enforcement officers or relatives to petition to temporarily take the firearms and ammunition of someone — who it can be demonstrated through probable cause — represents a danger to themselves or other people. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Wednesday in Las Cruces that the Senate bill would be on her call for the 2020 legislative session, framing it as a tool to ensure public safety. Fort said the bill would not only trample on the Second Amendment rights of New Mexicans, but other rights. Some said it would reduce the rights to due process. Others said that it is something that is not workable. “I understand and appreciate what they are trying to do, but I don’t think it practically works,” said State Sen. Bill Bert, R-Alamogordo. Mike Herrington, Chaves County Sheriff, told the crowd that the new law is not needed and that there are already laws in place that penalize people who use firearms in the commission of crimes...MORE