Message from the First Vice-Chair

by Sandoval County Democratic Party | Nov 30, 2023 | Message from the Chair, Newsletters

By Greg Bennett First Vice-Chair

Dear Democrats and Extended Families,

I hope the holidays are off to a great start for you.

As you probably know, we have a new office. It is located at 3949 Corrales Road, Corrales, Room 110. This office is, about 3 times larger than our previous office and comes with a kitchen, a back porch and a large conference room that we can use for our events. Once the dust has settled, please come by and see for yourself. I’m sure you will be pleasantly surprised.

At our last First Friday (Nov 1st), Mom’s Demand Action (MDA) (Alexis Jimenez and Cindy Benedict) spoke and I would like to reiterate a few items about their presentation in case you were not able to attend. MDA is a group that seeks smart legislation for gun control. Realizing that nearly 500 people die and over 600 are injured by guns in New Mexico every year this is an extremely important issue. New Mexico has the 11th highest rate of gun violence in the nation. As the table below shows, we are not immune to gun violence here in Sandoval County. In the three categories presented, Sandoval County is higher than the national average.

Category	Number	Rate per100	National rate per100
All Firearm Deaths	129	21.8 (13^th highest in NM)	13.0
Firearm suicide Deaths	89	15.0 (7^th highest in NM)	7.1
Firearm Homicide Deaths	36	6.1 (8^th highest IN NM)	5.7

Table1 Firearm Deaths in Sandoval County (2018-2021)

My intention is not to upset but rather inform. As you contemplate the data in Table, I just want to point out that the laws that were passed in the last legislative session were a good start. More importantly I want to expose which of our local legislators voted against these laws. HB 9(Benny’s Law) which requires gun owners to be responsible for their guns was voted against by Jason Harper, Alan Martinez, Craig Brandt, Greg Schmedes, and Benny Shendo. HB 308 which prohibits Straw Purchases of guns was also voted against by Craig Brandt and Greg Schmedes. SB 252 which set a state-wide standard for police use of force and duty to intervene was voted against by Brandt and Schemedes. As I said although these bills were passed into law I would like you all to remember as our firearm deaths/injuries appear to be going up which of the legislator are unwilling to support smart guns bills and get them passed into laws.

Please remember that both First Friday and Second Saturday are cancelled for December. Instead we are having a Doers and Donors Party on December 9^th at 3PM at the Unitarian Church at 1650 Abrazo Rd. Rio Rancho. All are invited to this potluck. This will give you a chance to mingle and for us, the DPSC leadership, to thank everyone for their help in the past year and for their help in the upcoming election cycle.

Have a wonderful holiday season to all.

Thanks
Greg