By ROBERT VISEL
Los Alamos

An “Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act” bill is being introduced to the State Legislature by our Governor and her fellow Democrats this month.

Putting Lipstick on a Pig doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a Pig. No matter how you name it, it is still a “Red Flag Law” and it’s pure garbage legislation at its worst!

“No law shall be passed that does NOT allow ‘Due Process’ or gives the accused the right to know who their accuser is.” It should provide court-appointed counsel to respondents who can’t afford lawyers or choose not to hire them. Legal representation is crucial for respondents trying to navigate a process that is stacked against them from the beginning.

Just like the Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, this Bill in its current form would allow anyone with a grudge, any anti-gunner, neighbor, emotionally unstable sibling, in-laws, or anyone else who has a grievance, to file possibly unsubstantiated charges against someone and file a complaint without any type of investigation into its validity.

Being made under oath and accompanied by a sworn affidavit does absolutely NOTHING to verify the validity of the complaint. If you read this Law in its current form, it’s obvious that it takes away a person’s due process. Which is in typical Democratic Lawmaker fashion. You are GUILTY until proven INNOCENT.

This new law should allow petitions be made only by prosecutors and requires them to show, based on the respondent’s actions or threats, that he/she poses “an extreme risk”.  

Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham wants to turn New Mexico into another California. Red flag laws are being sold to folks in California and other states as a way to curtail mass shootings. However, it hasn’t helped. Despite having red flag laws on the books for years, two of these States have had high-profile mass shootings.

In neither case did a red flag law accomplish much of anything despite the claims of proponents of such laws. There’s little to no evidence that red flag laws actually have any impact, so a push to expand the number of people who can ask judges for warrants to remove guns from Law Abiding Gun Owners makes no sense.

So, what’s this really about? It’s about control!

Current and new Red Flag Laws will do absolutely nothing to curtail mass shootings. But it does give the Government control over its citizens. That’s the Democratic Party’s goal and they can’t do it if the citizens (subjects) are armed.

In New Mexico the purpose of passing a red flag law has less to do with preventing violence but more to do with finding reasons to take people’s guns away and taking control of their lives.

Under our current Democratic-controlled state, they are so anti-gun that I wouldn’t be surprised if they start putting anti-gun slogans on the state seal. Because of this, they can think of no reason to respect the right to keep and bear arms.

The Heller Supreme Court Case made it clear that the state can’t just ban guns. So, they’ll try another way. Now, all you need is someone who doesn’t like guns or has a personal vendetta against you and POOF there go your guns. Martin Luther King said, “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws”.

Supporters of such laws will tell you that you can get your guns back, and it’s true. However, you’re now entering a realm of “guilty until proven innocent”. You have to show that you’re not a threat, something that’s not as easy to do as you might think and something that goes against everything we stand for as a nation.

That’s the only thing red flag laws manage to do well, and that’s why the Democrats are so desperately trying to pass a Red Flag Law in our State.

These Red Flag Laws have been tried by other States and they have been forced to rescind, repeal, amend, or veto such legislation.

There are many who would rather die than surrender to a Communist Party infringing on their Second Amendment Rights. And both Law Enforcement Agents and innocent civilians could get hurt or worse, killed in the crossfire. No Court, Judge, or Law Enforcement Agency with any merit would dare to try to enforce such sloppy Unconstitutional Laws like this and if acted upon by Law Enforcement the result could be numerous lawsuits or worse, someone could get injured or killed.

All Law Enforcement Officers and J.O.P.’s have sworn, above all else, to defend the Constitution of the United States to which this bill is in direct violation of. It not only violates the Second Amendment but the Fourth (Unreasonable Search and Seizures) and the Sixth (the accused shall enjoy the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for their defense).

A great idea would be for all the Sheriffs in all the counties of New Mexico to deputize all the gun owners in their county, that way circumventing any and all laws passed by our current rogue Government and making any anti-gun law null and void.

This Bill proposed by our Governor and her fellow Democrats is nothing more than a “Feel Good” piece of garbage and should be removed from the current and all future dockets.

Engrain this thought into your skulls:

                        “An armed man is a citizen.

                        An unarmed man is a subject.”