Washington Times – by Morgan Lee
SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a red-flag gun bill Tuesday that will allow state district courts to order the temporary surrender of firearms, and she urged sheriffs to resign if they still refuse to enforce it.
Flanked by advocates for stricter gun control and supportive law enforcement officials at a signing ceremony, Lujan Grisham said the legislation provides law enforcement authorities with an urgently needed tool to deter deadly violence by taking firearms from people who pose a threat to themselves or others.
Some sheriffs from mostly rural areas opposed the bill in committee hearings as a violation of constitutional guarantees to due process, free speech and the right to bear arms. Public rallies were held for and against the legislation.
Lujan Grisham said sheriffs should have the opportunity to oppose any recommended policy change, but “they cannot not enforce.”
“If they really intend to do that, they should resign as a law enforcement officer and leader in that community,” she said.
New Mexico Sheriffs’ Association President Tony Mace of Cibola County said the new law goes too far by potentially impounding guns before any crime is committed and that he and other sheriffs will assert their discretion over its enforcement.
“We don’t work for the governor, we don’t work for the Legislature,” he said. “We work for the people that elected us into office.”
The legislation allows police and sheriffs deputies to petition a court for the surrender of household firearms within 48 hours from people who appear to pose a danger to themselves or others.
Petitions can be based on sworn affidavits filed by relatives, employers or school administrators, and authorities can be held liable for officers who fail to enforce the law.
The gun control advocacy group Moms Demand Action is planning a yearslong campaign to publicize the law and outline how people can petition law enforcement for extreme risk protection orders, said Emelie DeAngelis, a state chapter leader.
She said her group is emphasizing that district attorneys can seek red-flag orders from judges in areas where sheriffs may show reluctance.
“We were really adamant that particularly with our sheriffs’ situation – a lot of them saying that they don’t want to enforce this – that the DAs had to stay in” the law, she said.
Lujan Grisham outlined her motivation for signing the red-flag law by invoking the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, and the 2018 mass shooting that killed 17 students at a Florida high school.
Red-flag laws gained momentum after it was learned that the young man accused in the Florida attack was widely known to be mentally troubled yet had access to weapons.
“Now this state is responding,” Lujan Grisham said. “We’re looking at the opportunity to do as much as we can for threats that could create mass violence.”
A red-flag order would set off a 10-day deadline for a court hearing on whether the initial order to surrender firearms is extended for a year. A flagged gun owner can request an extension of up to 30 days for the hearing.
Failure to relinquish firearms as ordered is a misdemeanor that can lead authorities to remove weapons under the bill.
Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/feb/25/michelle-lujan-grisham-signs-red-flag-gun-bill-tel/
“We don’t work for the governor, we don’t work for the Legislature,” he said. “We work for the people that elected us into office.” BAM!
“If they really intend to do that, they should resign as a law enforcement officer and leader in that community,” she said.
Hey wench, they aren’t there to enforce the corporations regulations but seeing as how the sheriffs are actually working under the corporation, they are sorta like screwed.
So erpo is the line in the sand but not all the other Articles they’ve willfully violated?
Que Charlie Brown and Lucy with the football. Paychecks and pensions are at stake.
Naturally sheriffs from rural areas oppose the bill…heck even “blue” counties in my neck of the woods (such as Presidio County, head-quartered in artsy-fartsy Marfa) would oppose this nonsense!
Hello New Mexico Sheriffs. I hope you get to somehow read this. I am sure that with all that has come out over the last few years you have learned that law enforcement has been corrupted, turned into a Blackwater operation serving corporate interests and tyrannical government. When choosing such a career, you likely may have thought you were enlisting in something noble and something on the side of the people. Many of you fell for this, and even with all that’s been exposed, continue to serve this anti-freedom enterprise.
That said, I see this message from your governor as a grand opportunity for you to show your mettle, to in fact, RESIGN, and refuse to execute unjust laws. This is your chance, your invitation, to finally stand on the right side of the law, the fully ratified Bill of Rights, and to stand with the people, American Nationals who are united in liberty.
“But my job, my paycheck, my family,” you might be thinking, and of course those are valid concerns, but what better way to live life than to model integrity and innovation by walking away from a toxic and tyrannical system. I cannot prove it to you, but have always believed that when one does the right thing, opportunities show themselves. And back to that word “innovative’… I believe in you as a capable human being, that you will use creative ways to earn a living, ways that DO NOT betray the true heritage of our REPUBLIC, where ALL are sovereign and endowed with every possible right of self-protection.
Some might think you are hopeless cases, too entrenched to change/defect. I do not, for I know my own experience has been one of mistakes, and of learning and changing. So to those who think you can’t do this, can’t walk away from treason, I say, PROVE THEM WRONG!! You are so needed in the fight!!
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This might be hard for them to not only read, but comprehend, Galen
You are giving their less than 80 IQ way too much credit
I like yer spirit though , and it was worth saying
Thanks, EOTS. Yeah, I’ve been known to sometimes be the fool ever searchin’ for the pearl amongst the rust. Once in a great while I find one. Guess that’s what keeps me searchin’.
🙂
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