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MY
FRIEND TOM is running, possibly for his life. It is a sweet summer evening
in San Jose, and he and a colleague have just left work and are walking
through a dicey neighborhood when they catch the eye of some young men, as
many as 20 of them, sitting around an old car in a driveway. "Hey, you
fucking faggots!'' one of the young men shouts. Tom and his colleague walk
past, quickly, but their persecutors rise like a flock of gulls and
follow, shouting taunts and threats: "When we're done with you, they'll
find your fucking bodies!'' The two pick up the pace and the men come
after them. ``Run,'' says Tom, but the gang breaks into pursuit while Tom,
trying to hold the pace, gropes in his backpack. The two reach a
streetlight and there, where everybody can see, Tom suddenly stops, turns,
and levels a semiautomatic handgun. Oh. At
that point, the young men chasing my friend lost their enthusiasm for
blood sport. Tom and his colleague left the neighborhood as fast as they
could. And if there had been no gun "There's no question in my mind,''
says Tom, "that my friend and I would have been at least very seriously
beaten, and maybe killed.''
Jonathan Rauch March 20, 1999, The National Journal And
Don't Forget Your Gun. |
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Washington
lobbyist Austin Fulk, 31, recalls a close brush with a hate-filled mob
back in 1987. "I was 17 years old and living in Little Rock," he says by
phone. "I was in a park where gay people too young to get into the bars
would hang out and talk. Some people came by in a car and yelled at us,
'F**king faggots. Get AIDS and die.' I was standing beside the pick-up
truck of a guy who had driven in from a rural part of Arkansas. He
verbally responded to the people in the car. Four of them came piling out
of their vehicle with baseball bats and tire irons. My friend reached
under the seat of his truck, removed his pistol, aimed it at them and
fired a warning shot over their heads. They basically decided that they
would rather not attack people who would fight back. They jumped back into
their car and fled." Deroy
Murdock July 1, 2002 Coming
Out of the Closet: These guys won't
be victims. |
PLEASE
NOTE: In addition to state laws, the purchase, sale and (in certain
circumstances) the possession and interstate transportation of firearms is
regulated by the Gun Control Act of 1968 as amended by the Firearms
Owners' Protection Act. Also, cities and localities may have their own
firearms ordinances in addition to federal and state laws. Details may be
obtained by contacting local law enforcement authorities, and by
consulting the State Laws and Published Ordinances-Firearms, available
from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
20402. QUICK
REFERENCE CHART
*The
carrying of concealed weapons is forbidden in New Mexico. There is no
statutory provision for obtaining a license or permit to carry a concealed
firearm. STATE
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION "No
law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms for
security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for
other lawful purposes, but nothing herein shall be held to permit the
carrying of concealed weapons. No municipality or county shall regulate,
in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms." Article II,
Section 6. POSSESSION No
state permit is required to possess a rifle, shotgun or
handgun. It
is unlawful, without prior approval from the bus company, to board or
attempt to board a bus while in possession of a firearm upon the "person
or effects" and readily accessible while on the bus. This does not apply
to duly elected or appointed law enforcement officers or commercial
security personnel in the lawful discharge of their
duties. It
is unlawful for a felon to receive, transport, or possess a firearm. Felon
is defined as "a person who has been convicted in the preceding ten years
by a court of the United States or of any state or political subdivision
thereof to a sentence of death or one or more years imprisonment and has
not been pardoned of the conviction by the appropriate
authority." It
is unlawful for a person under 19 to possess or transport a handgun,
except when the person is: 1. attending
a hunter's or handgun safety course; 2. engaged
in target shooting or in organized competition; 3. legal
hunting or trapping; 4. participating
in or practicing for a performance by a nonprofit organization formed
under I.R.S. Code ? 501(c)(3); 5. traveling
with an unloaded handgun to or from legalized activities; 6. on
real property under the control of the under 19 person's parent,
grandparent, or guardian and while under their supervision. PURCHASE No
state permit is required to purchase a rifle, shotgun or handgun. There is
a waiting period and background check. CARRYING It
is unlawful to carry a concealed loaded hand-gun on the person or in close
proximity thereto so that the handgun is readily accessible for use. This
does not apply to: 1) carrying in a person's residence or on real property
belonging to him as an owner, lessee, tenant or licensee; 2) carrying in a
private automobile or other private means of conveyance, for lawful
protection of person or property; or 3) carrying by a peace officer in the
lawful discharge of his duties. It
is lawful to carry an unloaded firearm. It
is lawful to carry a loaded rifle or shotgun in a private automobile or
other private means of conveyance, for lawful protection of person or
property. It
is unlawful to carry a deadly weapon on school premises, grounds, school
bus, or any public building or grounds where school-related and sanctioned
activities are performed. Exceptions include a person older than 19 in a
private means of conveyance for lawful protection of person or property,
safety or military instruction, or any school approved program involving
the carrying of a deadly weapon. No
person shall carry a loaded or unloaded firearm in an establishment
licensed by the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control for the dispensing
of alcoholic beverage except 1. a
law enforcement officer in the lawful discharge of his duties; 2. the
owner, lessee, tenant, or operator of the licensed premise or their
agents, including privately employed security personnel during the
performance of their duties; 3. by
a person in that area of the licensed premise usually and primarily rented
on a daily or short term basis for sleeping or residential occupancy,
including motel or hotel rooms; or 4. by
a person on that area of the licensed premise used primarily for vehicular
traffic or parking. No
person shall carry a firearm while under the influence of drugs or
alcohol. ANTIQUES
AND REPLICAS New
Mexico statutes are silent on antique and replica firearms. They are
treated as ordinary firearms for possession and carrying
purposes. MACHINE
GUNS It
is lawful to possess a machine gun that is legally registered and
possessed in compliance with all federal laws and
regulations. MISCELLANEOUS It
is unlawful to endanger the safety of another by handling or using a
firearm in a negligent manner. It
is unlawful to discharge a firearm within 150 yards of an inhabited
dwelling or building without the permission of the owner or
lessee. No
person under 18 years of age may hunt with a firearm unless he carries a
certificate indicating that he has successfully completed the New Mexico
hunter training course or the hunter training course of another state
which is approved by the New Mexico Department of Game and
Fish. No
person shall operate a snowmobile having a firearm in his possession
unless it has no round in the chamber, with the action
closed. When
a finding of fact is made that a firearm was used in a commission of a
felony, the basic sentence for the offense shall be increased by one (1)
year, and the sentence imposed shall be the first year served and shall
not be suspended or deferred. For a second or subsequent felony in which a
firearm is used, the penalty shall be increased by three (3) years, and
the sentence imposed shall be the first three years served and shall not
be suspended or deferred.
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