Miss Information – Democrats are fighting to keep us safe from gun violence

Once again, our own Miss Information (Judy Gordon) had the following Letter to the Editor published in the Albuquerque Journal recently.  You go, Miss!

With no help from Republicans, Democrats are fighting to keep us safe from gun violence

If actions speak louder than words, Republicans in the state legislature are proclaiming that their love for guns is more passionate than their love for the women and children they purport to care so deeply about. 

As reported by the Journal (February 8), Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, along with Democrats in the New Mexico legislature, are poised to enact multiple gun safety laws including a measure to keep guns away from children. 

While New Mexico Democrats work to make us safer, Republicans—unencumbered by the facts—huff that gun control laws don’t work and are dangerous for women.

Sen. Craig Brandt (R-Rio Rancho), in condemning the recent attacks on politicians in Albuquerque, makes the tired claim that tightening gun laws doesn’t make anyone safer.

Rep. Stefanie Lord (R- Sandia Park) trots out the debunked assertion that gun storage requirements designed to keep weapons away from children might leave a woman unable to defend herself against a violent ex-husband. 

Brandt and Lord are wrong. Credible data show that women very rarely use guns for self-defense, and overwhelmingly, a woman’s own gun is used against her. Anyone owning a gun significantly increases the risk of violent injury or death to members of their household.

New Mexico has one of the highest gun death rates in the country, but at every opportunity to date, Republicans in the state legislature have voted “no” to commonsense gun safety measures.

If New Mexico Republicans truly believe in the sanctity of life, they will join the Democrats in passing reasonable, life-saving gun safety laws.