Check www.nrapvf.org for candidate ratings in June 5 Primary.  Early In-Person Voting Begins Today

Primary Election Day in New Mexico is June 5th, but early in-person voting begins today, and runs through Saturday, June 2.  The anti-freedom rhetoric has certainly ratcheted up on one side of the aisle.

As you may have read last week, Albuquerque City Councilor and resident potty-mouth Pat Davis released a profane ad entitled "F*** the NRA" in a desperate attempt to gain publicity for his floundering campaign in the 1st Congressional District.  We'll spare you and not provide a link to this garbage, but if you must see it for yourself, a simple Google search will do the trick.

In the Democratic primary contests for Governor of New Mexico and Commissioner of Public Lands, candidates are doubling down on their anti-gun and anti-sportsmen positions in an effort to satisfy the progressive elements of their party.  They are running on platforms of restrictions on your Second Amendment rights that will be tough to stop in 2019, should they advance beyond their primaries and ultimately be elected.  

In the Democratic primary for governor, current Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham has called for a ban on the popular AR-15 sporting rifle (while admitting that it will do little to reduce crime).  She continues to tout her record of co-sponsoring key gun control measures as a member of the U.S House, as well as her joining part in the 26-hour congressional sit-in to demand action on such bills.  Her campaign’s "Action Plan to Combat New Mexico Gun Violence" contains a host of proposed restrictions on your rights, including:

• Banning semi-automatic firearms and standard capacity magazines;
• Prohibiting the private sale or transfer of lawfully-owned firearms unless conducted through a federal firearm licensed dealer (FFL), involving extensive paperwork, undetermined cost and time; and
• Directing the study of “gun violence” prevention strategies by the New Mexico Department of Health.  (The most recent example of an activist state agency advocating gun control includes their neighbors over at the Department of Human Services, which recently presented recommendations to a legislative committee that included “universal background checks for all firearms transactions,” “limits on access to high-capacity magazines & assault-style weaponry,” and “removal or clarification of language in the Affordable Care Act censoring discussion about the presence of firearms in homes with children between physicians and families.”)

Her opponents in the Democratic primary for governor, Jeff Apodaca and current State Sen. Joseph Cervantes, have similarly embraced a ban on AR-15s and other semi-automatic firearms, magazine capacity limits, and so-called “universal background check” legislation.

In the Democratic primary for Commissioner of Public Lands, a job which has a direct hand in issues affecting access by hunters, trappers and anglers to State Trust Land, State Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard from Los Alamos is campaigning on her plan to end trapping on public land (see "The Vision for Our Lands & State") and her sponsorship of gun control measures House Bill 50 and House Bill 548 from the 2017 Legislative Session.  Those ineffective, intrusive and unenforceable bills would have criminalized the private transfer or loan, even temporarily, of firearms between law-abiding individuals unless conducted through an FFL.  Neither bill received a vote by the full New Mexico House of Representatives due to vocal and intense opposition by gun owners, rural and agricultural groups, veterans’ organizations and the law enforcement community from across the state.  And now she's running for statewide office!  

Garcia Richard's most recent anti-gun video dubbed "Demand A Plan" falsely claims that in New Mexico, "weapons of mass carnage are made available to anyone who wants to buy one" and blames NRA and "the politicians they buy" for the defeat of her misguided legislation.  (Never mind Bloomberg-backed national gun control organizations invested nearly $250,000 last election cycle in electing politicians to try and pass her failed private transfer ban bills.)

Another candidate in the primary for Land Commissioner, Garrett VeneKlasen, recently posted on Facebook that "[T]here are many gun owners like myself who enthusiastically support sensible gun reform.  We need to form a strong coalition of like-minded gun owners to drown out the selfish and careless influence of the NRA."  While avoiding specifics, these are catch phrases we usually hear from gun control advocates seeking to downplay the impact their proposed restrictions would have on law-abiding gun owners.  Don't be fooled by this rhetoric!

Additionally, a political action committee backing Garrett VeneKlasen's candidacy is running negative ads against the third candidate in the primary, State Sen. George Munoz (D-Gallup) -- attacking Munoz for his A+ rating by NRA-PVF based on his longtime support of law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen.

Keep in mind that in New Mexico, only registered party members can participate in a political party's primary election.  If you have friends, family or fellow firearm owners who are registered Democrats, be sure to educate them on where these candidates stand on issues affecting law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen.  Don't let them be fooled by the double-talk the candidates are using about "bipartisan solutions" and "common-sense gun reforms".  This is about gun control – plain and simple.  

And if you care about the future of your Second Amendment rights in New Mexico, keep these candidates' positions in mind after the primaries if they move forward to the General Election in November!