New Mexico Gun Owners Call to Action

Gun Owners of America E-Mail/FAX Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408

http://www.gunowners.org

Now is the time to mobilize if you want action on concealed carry
reform in New Mexico during the next legislative session.

If you and I can convince the Governor to call the legislature to
action, there is a much greater chance of good reform coming out of
the legislature during the “budget session,” which runs from January
18th through February 16th, 2000.

Please contact Governor Johnson and urge him to do whatever is
necessary and sufficient under the New Mexico State Constitution to
get the legislature to take up The Freedom to Carry Act by Rep. Lisa
Lutz’s (R-60). This is a real right to carry bill.

Also urge Gov. Johnson not to message or call for any proposals
based on pre-emptive surrender (i.e. containing anti-gun provisions
and so-called licenses to carry).

Governor Johnson’s contact information is:

The Honorable Gary Johnson
Office of the Governor
State Capitol Building
Santa Fe NM 87503
Phone: 505-827-3000 / Fax: 505-827-3026 or Email:
[email protected]

Be careful not to fall for some of the false solutions being pushed
by gun compromisers. These other proposals are loaded with anti-gun
restrictions from the start and will only get worse if they move
through the legislative process.

Urge Governor Johnson to call for The Freedom to Carry Act by Rep.
Lutz and to reject one loaded with anti-gun concessions pushed by
gun compromisers.

The supporters of pre-emptive surrender concealed carry efforts
largely want to gain access and status as players in the political
establishment. This is why they are so willing to sell out your gun
rights as a general rule. They could actually make the situation
worse by “felonizing” concealed carry for those without a permit.

Here’s more about what has been going on since the 1999 session.

The 2000 New Mexico legislature is limited by the state’s
constitution to dealing with fiscal issues unless Governor Gary
Johnson makes a special call to address the concealed carry issue.

In 1998 pro-gun Representative Lisa Lutz (R-60 Sandoval) tried to
win a call from Governor Johnson to let her bring up concealed
carry. Sadly, the Governor’s advisors opposed her effort and the
issue could not come before the House. Now with the departure of
one of the chief obstacles to real right to carry, Public Safety
Secretary Darren White, who resigned over Governor Johnson’s drug
legalization “crusade,” perhaps the Governor will look more
favorably on adopting a genuine right to carry law for New Mexico
citizens.

Since 1995 the only recorded vote on concealed carry on the floor of
the New Mexico House was a motion offered by Rep. Lutz in 1999 on
The Freedom to Carry Act (HB 360). Lutz’s bill — a true right to
carry proposal modeled on Vermont’s successful law — lost on a
close 38 to 31 vote.

– MORE –

As you may know, last year Rep. Lutz’s Freedom to Carry Act
apparently struck a nerve. In fact, many gun banners considered it
the legislative equivalent of war against New Mexico gun-control.
You see, state law prevents and infringes honest citizens from
exercising their right to self-defense with a concealed firearm.
This leaves you and your loved ones vulnerable to criminal attack.

The Freedom to Carry Act would have put New Mexico in the forefront
of states to repair and protect citizen’s right to keep and bear
arms. Patterned after Vermont’s successful Right to Carry Law, Rep.
Lutz’s Freedom to Carry Act simply states law-abiding citizens may
carry a firearm for any reason except the commission of a crime.

In Vermont, there are no restrictions to carrying concealed: No
state permission slip, no fee for the permit, no fingerprints, no
government mandatory training and no government imposed waiting
period. With such a law,
Vermont is consistently rated one of the safest states in the
country.

And no matter what the gun-control crowd says, the Freedom to Carry
Act keeps it against the law to commit (or intend to commit) a crime
with any concealed firearm — just as it is anyway.

The Freedom to Carry Act also does away with charging a fee just to
exercise the right to carry concealed. These fees are nothing more
than a tax, a tax on self-defense.

And under the Freedom to Carry Act, law-abiding New Mexicans will
not be treated like common criminals by being fingerprinted,
photographed, registered with the government, required to get
permission or mandatory government training in order to exercise a
right.

History proves time-and-again issuing permits leads to government
abuses. For example officials:

1. Refuse to issue — In New York City Officials routinely deny
gun permits because ordinary citizens are in no greater need for
protection than anyone else in the city. Plus, authorities have even
refused to issue permits when the courts have ordered them issued.
In Gary, Indiana Mayor Richard Hatcher publicly refused to issue gun
licenses for law-abiding citizens regardless of the law and
blatantly challenged citizens to sue him.

2. Require fingerprints — In Virginia, Texas and other states
law-abiding gun owners applying for concealed carry permits are
treated like common criminals forced to submit to FBI fingerprinting
and background investigations — and all information is stored in
Clinton’s FBI computer files.

Plus, officials can “raise the hurdles” in order to get a permit.
The power to license a right is the power to destroy a right:

* Mandatory Training — Officials often design mandatory
training requirements that force applicants to shoot like an
Olympian and endure expensive and time-consuming training; training
many poor and elderly citizens cannot afford or pass.

* Prohibitive and Arbitrary Fee Increases — Any carry
concealed permit fee amounts to a tax on your right to self-defense.
Anti-gunners then work to raise fees too high for many law-abiding
citizens.

* Arbitrary Delays — Even though some states require
applications to be responded to within thirty days, delays of ninety
days are routine. Sometimes, delays last for several years.

However, with the Freedom to Carry Act there are no fees, so fees
cannot be raised. There are no permits, so officials cannot “raise
the hurdles” or refuse to issue them. And there are no permit lists,
so confiscation and invasion of privacy is much more difficult.

Representative Lutz has vowed to fight for Freedom to Carry Act
again this year. Action Item: Contact Governor Johnson at
505-827-3000 or E-mail at [email protected] to urge him to
“message” the legislature. Ask him to insist that the legislature
take up Rep. Lutz’s concealed carry proposal. You can contact Rep.
Lutz at [email protected] or call 505-986-4221.

Any ?s – Call GOA / Guns Save Lives

*** COPY-N-PASTE *** COPY-N-FAX *** COPY-N-MAIL ***

The Honorable Gary Johnson
Office of the Governor
State Capitol Building
Santa Fe NM 87503
Phone: 505-827-3000 / Fax: 505-827-3026 or Email:
[email protected]

Dear Governor Johnson:

As you know, firearms are used in successful self-defense cases in
excess of two million times per year. And, as Professor John Lott of
the University of Chicago has shown, concealed carry deters
criminals.

I respectfully ask you do whatever is necessary and sufficient under
the New Mexico State Constitution to get the legislature to take up
The Freedom to Carry Act by Rep. Lisa Lutz’s (R-60). This is a real
right to carry bill.

I also urge you not to message or call for any proposals based on
pre-emptive surrender (i.e. containing anti-gun provisions and
so-called licenses to carry) designed to make it difficult, if not
impossible, for many honest citizens to carry a concealed firearm
for self-defense.

I know that such proposals will only get worse as they move through
the legislative process.

Furthermore, the laws of New Mexico should address real crime and
punishment issues, not gun owner regulation. You and the legislature
need to stay focused on getting tough on crime — not regulating to
death my fundamental freedoms.

Citizens should have their right to carry a firearm for self-defense
restored. This is the Constitutional way to reduce crime!

Thank you for your consideration. Please write me and tell me what
you will do.

NAME: _____________________________________________

ADDRESS: _____________________________________________

CITY/ST/ZIP: _____________________________________________