Firearms bill to face amendments (NM bills to outlaw private sales without background checks)

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | February 4, 2017 | Dan McKay

[CedarDave]

SANTA FE – The sponsor of a firearms proposal working its way through the House says she’s willing to amend the bill so it applies to fewer law-abiding gun owners.

As it stands now, the proposal by Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard, D-Los Alamos, would require background checks when people sell, lend or give firearms to one another in private transactions.

But she said Saturday that she wants to focus on gun sales, not lending a firearm to a neighbor or someone else for personal protection.

A similar bill, meanwhile, has cleared its first committee in the Senate.

Supporters and opponents turned out in force for Saturday’s three-and-a-half-hour hearing, held on the House floor to accommodate the large audience.

Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace said the proposal will be impossible to enforce. Criminals, he said, generally get their weapons through theft or other illegal means.

“This bill does nothing to protect New Mexico,” Mace said. “The criminal element is going to obtain a weapon no matter how.”

[CedarDave]

NM Dems took control of the legislature last November. It is now much closer to California in composition - far-left libs and ecoradicals that believe fossil fuels should be banned (though they supply 1/3 of state revenue), taxes should be raised and the only enterprises supported should be cut-and-slice wind farms and bird-frying solar farms. And of course, everyone here should be able to vote even registering on election day. God help us in 2018 if we get another Dem governor like Richardson - we never recovered from his corrupt socialist-like administration.

[fortheDeclaration]

Yes, the Democrats hope to make the entire nation look like Calif.

[CedarDave]

A couple of days old, but still relevant.

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[CedarDave]

Our two US senators are both far-left eco-radical libs with more in common with west coast lib representatives than those in the mainstream. Interesting that Arizona is getting a new Intel facility while us in NM are constantly fighting to keep the plant in Rio Rancho from closing. Certainly a factor is that NM is always at the bottom, or nearly so, for education, poverty, jobs, etc. and at the top for crime and violence statistics per capita.

[LaRueLaDue]

Los Alamos denizen... Figures. There is a definite lack of objective reality up there. And they really aren’t part of New Mexico, they are more part of Kalifornia. (I am from there: it hasn’t changed, and had actually gotten worse over the years.)

[Disambiguator]

God help us in 2018 if we get another Dem governor like Richardson - we never recovered from his corrupt socialist-like administration.

But, hey, you got a new train. Sure, the roads are falling apart, but - train!

[PROCON]

Yes, we had a similar bill pass here in Washington state 2 years ago.

It's being ignored by gun owners.

Here on the conservative, East side, of the state, the Sheriffs ignore it too.

[DesertRhino]

This is only enforceable if there is a database, registering all the guns in the state. Is that part of this law?

[21twelve]

Hey - it must be working. In the entire two years there have been no arrests made in the entire state for breaking this rule. I mean, I know I NEVER switch firearms at the shooting club with my adult son.

[jdege]

I’m fine with doing background checks, so long as it doesn’t create a paper trail.

[fortheDeclaration]

The consequences of illegal immigration and why the wall is so badly needed.

[bgill]

Can your neighbor give you a gun for Valentine’s Day and you give him a heart shaped box of cash?

[CedarDave]

This is only enforceable if there is a database, registering all the guns in the state. Is that part of this law?

Don't know but suspect a paper trail for any sales that go through the federal background check. Otherwise no gun registry in NM that I know of. Checking with Tijeras Slim on these.

[Carriage Hill]

Like an insidious virus, it’s infested the coasts and inland big cities, and is working its way slowly thru the heartland.

[DesertRhino]

The paper trail of a background check cannot enforce this law. Think of it this way. You are a cop and you suspect someone is in violation of this new transfer law. How do you prove they got the gun illegally from another state resident, unless you can prove who possessed what guns on the beginning date of the law?

If the state does not know what guns I possess and what guns you possess, I can sell you one. I could buy one of yours. They say “look, no paper trail from a fed background check”. You say I bought that one before the law passed.

Nobody will ever be able to prove a thing without a registration list. And that is where this is leading.

[DesertRhino]

There is no registration in NM now. But this law is impossible to enforce without one unless you catch someone in the act.

[Sasparilla]

...“This bill does nothing to protect New Mexico,” Mace said. “The criminal element is going to obtain a weapon no matter how.....

Billy the Kid must still be on the loose in New Mexico. I thought Pat Garrett took care of him.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Although the politician says she’s interested in “sales”, the bill has not changed and would bar almost all “transfers” without a check (including loaning a buddy a hunting gun, handing another shooter at the range a gun to try unless you remain constantly in their presence.

It is similar to the law passed in NV recently which local law enforcement said is unenforcible. (Our NM Sheriffs have spoken out similarly). Also, NICS will not process these checks, as the FBI has deemed them a misuse of federal resources for state purposes.

Tomorrow there will be several groups headed to Santa Fe as the bill is before the Judiciary Committee. They plan to follow the anti-gun people around and speak to representatives after they do (the anti’s arguments are all emotion). Our contingent is from SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) and has a number of people who did this successfully in CA when it was headquartered there. They have a plan, materials, good arguments.

By focusing on the “transfer” side, they hope to peel a number of rural Democrats away. It’s a hard uphill climb, but these folks have experience. They even helped change some gun laws in Australia on a visit there.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I agree, backdoor registration.

[bert]

unenforceable