Real New Mexicans deserve sanctuary status

And I’m not talking about protecting illegal aliens…

In recent weeks, 14+ counties have chosen to declare themselves a “Second Amendment Sanctuary,” stating that regardless of the reckless laws passed by the New Mexico Legislature, law enforcement officials would follow what the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution outlines:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

The following bills in the Legislature propose stringent background check regulation, as explained below:

• House Bill 40, sponsored by Miguel Garcia requires overreaching gun show background check protections.
• House Bill 83, sponsored by Damon Ely authorizes the seizure of firearms and ammunition from individuals without due process
• House Bill 130, sponsored by Linda Trujillo would make gun owners criminally and civilly liable if a child gains unsupervised access to an unsecured firearm.
• Senate Bill 8, sponsored by Richard Martinez and Peter Wirth would make it harder to buy a gun through insane amounts of background checks, ultimately making it so difficult to try and protect oneself that they will just give up, and buy one on the black market.

These overreaching and unconstitutional measures are the reason why 14+ New Mexico counties have felt it imperative at this time to guarantee that the residents of these respective counties would have the protection of their local law enforcement so they would not be criminalized for lawfully owning firearms.

Despite the political vivisection on these controversial gun-grabbing bills, patriotic New Mexicans from both sides of the aisle, Democrat and Republican organized to stand up for the right thing. In a February 22 Sandoval County Commission hearing on the matter, Commissioner Jay C. Block quoted President John F. Kennedy:

“Today we need a nation of minute men; citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as a basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom.”

Block continued by stating, “Those words were spoken by President John F. Kennedy, who also happened to be a lifetime member of the NRA.” He was met with applause from the audience, many of which were wearing NRA caps and clothing items.

Block’s reflection on the late president’s words gives credence to the changes our country has endured over the last few decades, as the political middle, made up of reasonable men and women in both parties becomes further isolated.

John F. Kennedy most likely wouldn’t make it in today’s Democrat Party, especially, as a Catholic NRA and Knights of Columbus member. By the standard the radical left has in their current party, great men such as Kennedy wouldn’t even make it in the door, especially with affiliations to godly, pro-2nd Amendment nonprofit organizations.

Thankfully for reasonable folks in our state, such as Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzalez, who oversees law enforcement in the largest populated area of New Mexico has our back when it comes to our rights to bear arms. Gonzales released this statement: “I confidently support a Second Amendment sanctuary county.”

Bernalillo County, which is a majority Democrat-controlled area, whose sheriff agrees with the 2nd Amendment is a big deal, especially in this day and age of political division and radical left-wing extremism from Bernalillo county leaders.

The actions by New Mexico’s leaders and citizens to stand for our constitutional rights gives me incredible hope for our state’s future and shows me that together, we can rise above partisanship and division, and instead take courage in the fact that before we are Democrats or Republicans, we are New Mexicans and Americans.