After Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico signed a bill requiring background checks for almost all firearm purchases, Republican lawmakers have said they will be attempting to repeal the new law.
The bill was signed on March 8 and will come into effect in July, according to Santa Fe New Mexican.
The Republicans opposed to the new gun control laws are circulating petitions that express the position of gun rights groups and defenders of Second Amendment rights, who say that the new laws do little to prevent crime while infringing on their rights of Americans as protected by the Constitution, according to the New Mexico media.
#GunControl legislation in the US often has little effect on criminals, while limiting the #constitutional rights of law abiding citizens, according to Lars Dalseide, spokesperson for @NRAILA.
Watch American Thought Leaders ???????? with @JanJekielek: https://t.co/pGmv6uL8mI pic.twitter.com/KOHhPqcUTW
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) March 6, 2019
House Republican leaders sent a letter to Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, requesting that she place an approval or disapproval question about the bill on the 2020 ballot, according to The Grant County Beat.
If Oliver approves the request and the House Republicans get 10 percent of the 2018 General Election voters’ signatures, the question will be added to the ballot. If the petition is signed by 25 percent of the voters, the law will be immediately suspended and the question will be added to the ballot.
The reason that the shooting occured wasn’t because of the gun.
It was because every single level of government failed.
It’s time to hold those who let my peers be massacred accountable. pic.twitter.com/m8TTxHpGnQ
— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) March 3, 2019
Background Check Exceptions
Under the new law, it will be a misdemeanor crime to sell a gun without a background check administered by a licensed federal firearms dealer, although there will remain some exceptions to the law.
A background check will not be required for people who have already purchased a firearm from a federal firearms dealer, according to the bill. Law enforcement agencies are exempt from the background check. This includes firearm trades between two law enforcement officers with the proper authorization.
Taking an idea the liberal #SanctuaryCities, a growing number of counties are declaring themselves #2ndAmendment sanctuaries, refusing to enforce #GunControl laws that they consider to be infringements on the US constitutional right to keep and bear arms. https://t.co/uC2duFmie8
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) March 5, 2019
Lastly, trades between immediate family members will not require background checks. This means that spouses, parents, children, grandparents, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, first cousins, and aunts or uncles will be able to trade amongst themselves.
“You can push back… but now’s the time to play offense. Now’s the time to make sure that we get candidates elected… who won’t just say they’re going to protect your right to keep and bear arms, but will protect your rights.” —@CamEdwards pic.twitter.com/Zcl9e2P1AH
— Cam and Company (@CamAndCompany) March 5, 2019
Guns Responsible for Gun Violence?
New York Professor of Political Science Nicholas Giordano said at a public forum on gun violence and 2nd Amendment that seizing and prohibiting weapons will not reduce gun violence. Though he does support enhance background checks, he said that people are becoming too reliant on the government, in turn, missing the core catalyst of gun violence.
“The reason it’s not gonna fix anything is because we’re not exploring the issue the right way,” Giordano said during the panel discussion hosted by The Queens Village Republican Club in New York. “We’re looking at problems as if guns are the problem, rather than culture being the problem.”
Looking forward to speaking at the Public Forum on Gun Violence and 2nd Amendment hosted by the Queens Village Republican Club. #GunRights https://t.co/3EsR3JLuwG
— Nicholas Giordano (@PasReport) March 7, 2019
Giordano, who teaches at Suffolk County Community College, said that over the past 38 years, various forms of entertainment have progressively degenerated—now embracing vices and abandoning virtues. Declining morals mixed with advancements in technology have made for a pernicious concoction.
Desensitized by Immoral Culture on the Internet
“And then all of a sudden, in 2006, the iPhone comes out, social media starts really taking off, and that’s when we start seeing the mass shootings increase dramatically,” Giordano said. “With the social media, what I propose it’s done, is it’s dehumanized us.”
As people are exposed to an immoral culture, they become desensitized, in turn losing empathy and compassion for others, Giordano continued. Consequently, jealousy and envy are bolstered.
#NewMexico’s Democrat Governor Signs Bill to Criminalize Private Gun Sales
I have yet to see one gun law that has prevented a criminal from obtaining a gun illegally. Anyone seen one? I would love to be proven wrong.
— KIMBERLY???? (@TheRaytedex) March 10, 2019
Many studies have proven that limiting social media in your daily life decreases depression, including one published by the Guilford Press.
Another panelist, Licensed Clinical Worker Donna Marino, said that most, if not all mass shooters, had some kind of mental health issue. But she emphasized that the community should make sure not to stigmatize mental illnesses, saying that most mentally ill people are non-violent and unlikely to commit a crime.
