Albuquerque City Councilor Diane Gibson is attempting to trigger a repeal of a state constitutional amendment that prevents cities from passing gun control ordinances.
According to a 1986 amendment that voters approved, the New Mexico Constitution currently prohibits municipal and county governments from regulating “in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.”
However, Gibson and Councilor Isaac Benton want the Albuquerque City Council to press the New Mexico Legislature to put the issue back on the ballot.
“It is now timely for the citizens of New Mexico to once again consider whether the 1986 Amendment should remain in place,” according to a City Council resolution the council members introduced earlier in August. It requests that the New Mexico Legislature authorize a ballot measure so that voters can determine if the amendment should be struck down.
The request directed to the Legislature is not obligatory and it still has to receive the City Council’s approval.
Gibson believes that the constitutional amendment merits another review.
“That’s a long time ago,” Gibson commented about the 1986 vote. “There’s a lot that’s changed.”
Gibson sponsored a similar council resolution in 2015, but it ended up failing.
Councilor Brook Bassan was the lone opponent of this resolution.
“I think everybody (understands) that I am not in support of going ahead to allow the local municipalities to dictate anything regarding the Second Amendment, which is a federal privilege that we have,” Bassan stated.
New Mexico is not a friendly state for gun owners. It currently has a 36th place ranking according to Guns & Ammo magazine’s Best States for Gun Owners rankings.
Gun owners will need to be on the lookout for this underhanded anti-gun maneuver. The anti-gun crowd does not operate conventionally and will exploit any opportunity to move their agenda forward.
As Thomas Jefferson brilliantly put it, eternal vigilance is needed if we want to preserve our freedoms.
