Gun show bill OK’d in House (NM - requires background checks)

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | February 14, 2013 | Deborah Baker

[CedarDave]

SANTA FE – The state House has voted to close a gun show loophole that allows private vendors to sell weapons without doing background checks on buyers.

The legislation has the support of GOP Gov. Susana Martinez, and eight Republicans joined all but three of the chamber’s Democrats to pass the bill 43-26.

It headed to the Senate, where its prospects are uncertain.

House Bill 77 would require private sellers at gun shows to have background checks done on prospective buyers before they make a sale.

The bill’s backers said it would keep at least some guns out of the hands of those who are prohibited by law from having them – felons, for example, or the mentally incompetent – and curb gun violence.

Because federal firearms licensees are already required to conduct background checks, the proposal simply creates consistency at gun shows, supporters argued during 2 1/2 hours of debate.

Opponents of the bill branded it a knee-jerk response to the recent mass shootings in Connecticut and Colorado and the wounding of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. – none of which involved weapons from gun shows.

[CedarDave]

The bill is a stripped-down version of an earlier bill that would have prevented any private sales of guns without a background check, including among family members. That version was defeated on a tie vote in committee.

Bill goes to NM Senate where hearings must be held. It's prospects there depend on which and how many committees are assigned to hear the bill. Committee chairmen can effectively block bills by scheduling hearings such that the next committee or full senate won't have time to consider the bill before the session ends.

The clock is ticking as in NM the state constitution limits the legislature session to only 60 days in odd-numbered years (30 days in even-numbered years). The ending date is noon Saturday, March 16 and many bills will be in line to be voted on that morning. However, a few members can effectively shut them all down by controlling debate time on bills first up for consideration. So it can be payback time for legislators who pissed off a senior member. Some good bills die in those final hours and must be re-introduced the following year or in two years.

[Sacajaweau]

Geez.....The Federal Government proved to everyone that gun running is alive and well via their Fast and Furious Fiasco.

In fact, it's aliver and weller thanks to Obama and his minions.

You can make all the gun laws you want....Criminals will ALWAYS find a way....that's what they do....that's what makes them criminals....their ability to bypass laws.

[CedarDave]

Continuing my last comment, I’m not calling the gun bill a “good” bill; just pointing out how the process works in Santa Fe. When I lived there, it was always interesting, if not somewhat comical, to watch from the gallery the clock tick on towards noon while below legislators also watched the chance for their hard-fought bills to pass slowly die. At noon the gavel comes down and the good, the bad and the ugly all die together for this year.

[CedarDave]

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[CedarDave]

Apologies to the NM list. Rogle passed away last week and I neglected to remove his name from the list.

[Vigilanteman]

Maybe they need to pass a bill requiring gun checks for all sales from car trunks or vans in inner city neighborhoods which take place after dark. This is how most criminals get their firearms.

Good luck with enforcement.

[RightOnTheBorder]

So now, after every gun show, there will simply be robust business going on in the parking lot? I expected better out of Martinez.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Let’s see how this will work...

You walk into a gun show with a gun, by the time you finish the first isle you may have traded with another visitor and got some cash to boot.

Then you see some visitor with a firearm you like better, and trade for it.

Then as you continue you see someone else who likes your gun and you trade for it.

By the time you are finished with the show you may have traded 5 or 6 times.

Do you need a background check for each of these transactions if you don’t buy from a private dealer with a table?

How is the government supposed to know your trades unless they have dogged your every step?

Now, think of a show with three thousand tables and two miles of isles. Are the feds going to watch every person to see how they trade in the isle?

If they do, then the gun shows will lose lots of visitors and deals will be made in parking lots and alley ways nearby.

[rarestia]

If they do, then the gun shows will lose lots of visitors and deals will be made in parking lots and alley ways nearby.

Sounds a lot like how healthcare is going to be conducted in this country soon.

The government wants to control every aspect of your day-to-day dealings. They want to control how much water you get to shower in the morning, how many calories you consume at each meal, how much fuel you use to get to and from the office, how much money you spend on meals out, how much you spend on groceries, how much time you spend on your phone and browsing the Internet, what sites you visit on the Internet, with whom you associate, what types of pets you have, how much electricity you use...

What makes you think they don't want to control when and what you trade, regardless as to whether or not that item is legal?

[1_Of_We]

Theft of legally owned weapons is sure to increase. ‘Criminal behavior’ will not be infringed.

[MSF BU]

MY thinking precisely. I have seen a plethora of these transactions conducted in the parking lots afterwards, or numbers traded in case the person does not get a better price. Ridiculous.

[texasmountainman]

The next step will be to require background checks for all private sales and after that confiscation.

If the government is so sure that background checks are effective, then how about retroactive background checks on all the weapons purchased under the Fast & Furious program that were given to the Mexican drug cartels!

[CedarDave]

The next step will be to require background checks for all private sales ... The original bill required that, even among family members.

Private transactions will take place outside the show and I would expect that ATF agents will be monitoring shows with security cameras and track/follow those exchanging phone numbers to their vehicles to identify them for future harassment. A good reason to have those not already paranoid about government snooping become so.

[Carriage Hill]

“...deals will be made in parking lots and alley ways nearby....”

I’m guessing that’s how 93% of the illegal guns used for murders/robberies/gangbanging happens, anyway. This miniscule 7% breaks down in numerous other ways, including some kids getting ahold of parents’ unsecured firearms.

Any thoughts?

[texasmountainman]

The liberal mindset is that all gun owners are evil. That includes the police, the military and the liberal's armed bodyguards, all of whom they reluctantly regard as necessary evils. Time for Texas to annex S.E. New Mexico including Ruidoso and Cloudcroft. Maybe trade-in El Paso,if it has any trade-in value.