It seems that they are gearing up for another round.

His letter:

Dear Friend,

It is no secret that I am a passionate outdoorsman, hunter, and supporter of the Second Amendment.  It is my firmly held belief that law-abiding citizens should be able to own firearms for both sport and self-defense.  That is not a political statement, it is simply who I am.

In our efforts to protect the established constitutional right of individual gun ownership though, it is also our responsibility as leaders to support public safety and put in place commonsense protections to ensure that firearms do not find their way into the hands of those that would turn them against our communities.  No one should disagree with the foundational principle of protecting our families.

That is why in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting I joined a bipartisan group of Senators, and the majority of Americans, in supporting legislation to expand background checks to all commercial firearms sales and crack down on illegal gun transactions by explicitly making straw purchasing and gun trafficking federal crimes.  Keeping guns out of the hands of people legally prohibited from having them is a way to prevent violence without punishing law-abiding gun owners.  That's what background checks do, and having been through the background check process myself on numerous occasions, I know it is not an unreasonable burden on responsible law-abiding gun owners.  

We also know that prioritizing mental health services is another key component to keeping our families safe. I support efforts to aid in the prevention and early identification of mental health conditions and to promote access to appropriate services for children and youth.  These are important steps that Democrats and Republicans in Congress agree we must take.

When I learned of the latest shooting in Oregon at Umpqua Community College, I could not help but once again think of the heartbreak confronting the families impacted by this latest tragedy.  But I also began to wonder how many of these once again moments the nation would be forced to endure before Congress mustered enough courage to act.  Last time, despite enjoying majority support, even commonsense measures could not surmount the 60-vote threshold needed for U.S. Senate approval.

We are now in a new Congress and I have to believe that after almost three years of continued gun violence and tragic mass shootings the American people will demand a different result.  New Mexicans can count on me to be on their side as we seek to find bipartisan, commonsense solutions to reduce gun violence in our communities, while still respecting our constitutional rights.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me on this and other issues important to you. Be well and please keep in touch.

Sincerely,


Signature

MARTIN HEINRICH
United States Senator


My response:
I am writing in response to your office's E-Mail titled gun violence prevention?.

In the first paragraph you mention "expand background checks to all commercial firearms sales" I am unsure what you want to expand on, since all commercial sales have to go though a FFL right now. If you are referring to the "Gunshow Loophole" I am strongly opposed to such legislation, since I shouldn't need your permission to dispose of my own property (IE having to contact the Government to sell one of my firearms to a buddy) This is obviously a means to establish a national firearms registry, which is a further infringement on MY rights.

Further, " crack down on illegal gun transactions by explicitly making straw purchasing and gun trafficking federal crimes." Straw purchases are already a Federal crime. Although neither the House or the Senate did anything to curb Federally sponsored gunrunning to Mexico via "Fast & Furious" which led to the death of a Federal agent. Due to your inaction on that matter I believe that you want to expand "Straw Purchase" to include me buying a firearm as a gift for a NON-prohibited person.

I agree that mental illness is a problem, but I am very cautious of allowing you to define who is "mentally ill". It would be very easy for a DOJ & CDC "study to identify and define people that have an interest in weapons as "mentally ill" thus disqualifying them from ownership. I am hesitant to grant you that authority. The concept has been hinted at in the past. Also I believe Veterans are likely to become victims of your dragnet witch hunts because they sought help for deployment related problems.

You state "It is my firmly held belief that law-abiding citizens should be able to own firearms for both sport and self-defense." You mention Sandy Hook and Umpqua Community College, then go on to say "But I also began to wonder how many of these once again moments the nation would be forced to endure before Congress mustered enough courage to act." I also wonder this. You believe that we have a right to self defense, but YOU took no action to allow these people the tools to defend themselves by allowing "NO GUN ZONES" to exist. It is obvious that these areas do nothing but insure that the animals that commit these kinds of acts have soft targets with little chance of opposition.

I am opposed to any further infringements of our rights. Perhaps you should instead look into ways to allow us to defend ourselves. As a start, I would suggest allowing us to carry the most effective tools to do this.

Hhmm.

Hindlick must have taken me off his mailing list, as I did not get this one.  Wonder why he would do that?

When these azz monkeys start talking about common sense measures, I usually ask if they are going to use the same common sense that got us 18 trillion dollars in debt.

As soon as you hear/see the term "commonsense" you know your rights are about to be taken away

yup

Hindlick did send me this e-mail.  Sent him back a nice love letter.  I'm sure he will ignore it .

How many more years do we have to get the chance to get id of him

Without term limits or he chooses not to run he is in foooorever

Well written, and thought out response.
Unfortunately I think he will never even see it.