Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Sheriffs in New Mexico are rejecting a “red flag” firearms confiscation law proposed by a Democrat in the state legislature, and the issue could soon take center stage when the state’s lawmakers kick off the 2020 legislative session in Santa Fe in just a few weeks.
State Rep. Daymon Ely has held meetings with sheriffs, but says he can’t accept the changes to the bill that they’ve requested. Today, Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace tells Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co. that if the bill becomes law, you’re likely to see it go unenforced by sheriffs offices around the state.
Law enforcement officers like Sheriff Mace have several issues with Rep. Ely’s red flag proposal, including the low evidentiary standard needed to confiscate someone’s firearms, the fact that a person subjected to a red flag order has to wait fifteen business days for a hearing though their guns can be taken immediately after a judge signs the order, and the fact that individuals could lose a civil right without ever being adjudicated mentally defective or even charged with a crime, much less convicted of a disqualifying offense. Sheriff Mace also says that existing civil commitment laws can and should be used in cases where someone poses a legitimate threat to themselves or others, but anti-gun politicians are determined to put this flawed and easily abused “red flag” statute in place.
Dozens of communities across New Mexico have declared themselves to be a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” and I asked Sheriff Mace if a “red flag” law would be one of those unconstitutional measures that would not be enforced in these cities and counties. While the sheriff can’t predict the future with 100% accuracy, he told me that he believes they will be unenforced, just as the state’s new “universal background check” law hasn’t resulted in any arrests or prosecutions that he’s aware of.
New Mexico gun owners aren’t just going to have to contend with this “red flag” bill in the upcoming session, as Sheriff Mace warned me. A new bill banning semi-automatic rifles is going to be introduced, and with Democrats in control of both chambers of the legislature, we can expect several more bills to drop before the filing deadline in early January.
We’ll be talking with Sheriff Mace about the gun ban bill one day next week on Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co., but in the meantime, I encourage you to check out today’s interview in its entirety in the video window above. It’s a fantastic and wide-ranging interview with a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, and Sheriff Mace does a great job articulating the concerns about “red flag” laws from a Constitution-upholding law enforcement perspective.
Also on today’s show we have a repeat offender showing up for the second time in our “Recidivist Report”, an armed neighbor who helped thwart a burglary in northwest Texas, and a firefighter who saved a family’s treasured memento from the flames of a burning home.
You can always subscribe to the show in podcast form at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Townhall.com’s podcast page, as well as subscribing to Townhall Media on YouTube. Thanks for watching, listening, and spreading the word!
Cam Edwards has covered the 2nd Amendment for more than 15 years as a broadcast and online journalist, as well as the co-author of "Heavy Lifting: Grow Up, Get a Job, Start a Family, and Other Manly Advice" with Jim Geraghty. He lives outside of Farmville, Virginia with his family. https://bearingarms.com/author/camedwards/
https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2019/10/25/new-mexico-sheriffs-prepare-red-flag-fight/