New Mexico Moms Demand Action, Everytown Applauds New Mexico Attorney General Balderas for Opposing “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” – The NRA’s Top Priority

Seventeen Attorneys General Released a Letter Opposing “Concealed Carry Reciprocity,” Including Attorney General Balderas

Law Enforcement Organizations Making up the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence and Bipartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors Have Also Opposed “Concealed Carry Reciprocity”

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Volunteers with the New Mexico chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety released the following statement today, applauding Attorney General Hector Balderas for joining a group of seventeen attorneys general in opposing “concealed carry reciprocity” in a letter to Congress released today.

The letter, signed by attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia states in part that, “Rather than creating a new national standard for who may carry concealed firearms, these bills would elevate the lowest state standard over higher ones and force some States to allow concealed carry by people who do not qualify under their laws. … We fear that, if enacted, these bills inevitable will lead to the death of police officers and civilians, the proliferation of gun traffickers, and acts of terrorism and other mass violence.”

Learn more about concealed carry reciprocity here.

STATEMENT FROM CHERYL HAASE, VOLUNTEER WITH THE NEW MEXICO CHAPTER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:

“I am grateful to Attorney General Hector Balderas for siding with public safety and opposing ‘concealed carry reciprocity’. ‘Concealed carry reciprocity’ is a reckless piece of legislation that would not create a national standard for who can carry a hidden, loaded gun in public. Instead, the NRA’s longtime priority would gut state gun laws, forcing New Mexico to accept the concealed carry standards of every other state – making it easy for residents in neighboring states with very weak standards to carry hidden, loaded weapons in New Mexico.”

“For example, New Mexico doesn’t allow people recently convicted of violent misdemeanor crimes to obtain a permit and requires gun safety training, including live fire. However, 23 states allow people to concealed carry even if they’ve recently been convicted of violent misdemeanor crimes, and 19 states don’t require any training. For example, New Mexico’s neighbor, Arizona, allows people convicted of violent misdemeanor crimes to carry. Arizona also doesn’t require a permit or any gun safety training. Under concealed carry reciprocity, people in a dozen states that don’t even require permits for a person to concealed carry could carry hidden, loaded guns in New Mexico, and in all 50 states.

Under current law, every state determines its own standards for concealed carry, and no state should be forced to allow people to carry concealed handguns who otherwise do not meet the standards they have set for themselves.

Since the mass shooting in Las Vegas, the gun lobby has opposed legislation to improve our gun laws, and has instead repeatedly called for Congress to pass its top priority, “concealed carry reciprocity.”