A week after a gunman ran into a Texas grade school and started shooting, the first of 21 funerals began on Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas. Hundreds of mourners turned out for an afternoon Mass to remember Amerie Jo Garza, who was among the 19 children killed when a gunman opened fire at Robb Elementry School. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)
SANTA FE – Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed gun restrictions into law and called for a statewide ban on the sale of AR-15-style rifles – a position she reiterated Tuesday in response to the recent massacre at a Texas elementary school. Republicans competing to challenge her this fall, by contrast, say they would defend gun rights and focus on other safety initiatives, such as strengthening mental health services and school security. Their comments come as New Mexico heads into next week's primary election, when GOP voters will choose a nominee to face Lujan Grisham, who is seeking her second term. Republican candidate Greg Zanetti, an Albuquerque financial adviser and retired general, called the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, a "senseless tragedy." An 18-year-old with a semi-automatic rifle, police say, killed 19 children and two teachers in the attack. Policy changes in response to the school shooting, Zanetti said, should focus on armed guards, metal detectors, mental health services and limiting points of entry. "Further infringing upon the Second Amendment rights of our law-abiding citizens," he said, "is not the answer." Republican candidate Mark Ronchetti, a former meteorologist at KRQE, said New Mexico should stiffen penalties for gun crimes, make it a felony to threaten a school shooting and invest in technology and other infrastructure "to keep our schools the safest places in our communities." The state, he said, should also take steps to encourage retired police officers to begin a second career protecting schools. "We need to keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them – including criminals and those who threaten to harm others and commit acts of mass violence," Ronchetti said in a written statement to the Journal. "This can be done while protecting the very important right afforded to all Americans under the 2nd Amendment." Republican candidate Rebecca Dow, a state legislator from Truth or Consequences, has voted repeatedly against legislation that would restrict gun rights. She said Tuesday that the state can respond to school shootings without interfering with adults' constitutional rights. "Mental health needs, partially early interventions, need to be addressed," Dow said in a written statement. "It is critical that we find solutions that do not restrict the 2nd amendment rights of law-abiding citizens." The Journal was unable to reach the remaining two GOP candidates, Jay Block and Ethel Maharg, for comment by deadline Tuesday, but they have expressed support for gun rights. Block said on his campaign website that he has "fought for our Second Amendment liberties" as a member of the Sandoval County Commission, and Maharg said in a video on her site that the"Second Amendment was put in place to protect our First Amendment rights to free speech."
