Many N.M. politicos praise overturning of D.C. gun ban

Many New Mexico politicians lined up today to praise the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to affirm the right of Americans to have guns in their homes for self-defense.

Failing to comment on the first time in history that the high court has declared an individual right to possess a gun, however, was New Mexico’s gun-toting Gov. Bill Richardson.

The high court made the ruling by striking down a Washington, D.C. ban on handguns in homes and requirements that other firearms be equipped with trigger locks or disassembled. You can read more from the Associated Press.

New Mexico’s two U.S. Senate candidates praised the decision.

“I have always believed the Second Amendment guarantees all law-abiding citizens the right to own firearms,” Democrat Tom Udall said. “I support overturning the D.C. law because it is too restrictive and contradicts the Second Amendment. While this decision is a great victory for the Constitution, it does not mean we can stop being vigilant, and as a senator I will continue to fight to protect the rights of law-abiding gun-owners.”

“I applaud the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to affirm the right of individuals to keep and bear arms,” said Republican Steve Pearce. “The ability to defend yourself and your family within your own home is a fundamental right all Americans must be able to exercise. With this ruling of the court, we have set an important precedent of Second Amendment rights for future generations.”

In a separate news release, Pearce accused Udall of a flip-flop on Washington’s gun law, saying the Democrat twice voted against overturning the city’s gun ban.

“It is breathtaking in its scope and intellectual dishonesty. Tom Udall has consistently opposed the rights of individuals to own guns and it is an outrage and an insult to the people of New Mexico for him to say otherwise,” Pearce said.

Though Washington is a federal zone, the city is granted the ability to make its own laws by Congress. Udall campaign spokeswoman Marissa Padilla responded to Pearce’s attack with this statement:

“There are numerous attempts to overturn D.C. laws in Congress, and Tom Udall has voted against those amendments because he believes Congress should not be telling Washingtonians how to run their city,” she said.

Others praising the high court’s ruling in statements included Bernalillo County Sheriff and 1st Congressional District Republican candidate Darren White, Democratic 2nd Congressional District Democratic candidate Harry Teague, U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici and U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a Democrat, was less positive in his statement.

“Under our system of government, the Constitution means what the Supreme Court says it means, and the court has determined the Second Amendment right is an individual right. The implications of that decision and how it will affect communities across the country, however, remain unclear,” Bingaman said.

Where’s the governor?

Richardson, who has long been a defender of individuals’ rights to own guns and a friend of the National Rifle Association, did not release a statement today or respond to requests for comment on the high court’s ruling.

Richardson is a high-profile supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who has been hammered all day by Republicans following an ABC News report about his backtracking on a previous statement from his campaign that the D.C. gun ban was constitutional.

An Obama staffer told the Chicago Tribune last year that “Obama believes the D.C. handgun law is constitutional.” Today, the campaign said that was “obviously an inartful attempt to explain the senator’s consistent position.” As noted by The Politico’s Ben Smith, it may have been inartful, “but it wasn’t ambiguous.”

What is Obama’s position? Obama’s campaign told The Politico today for a second article that the candidate believes generally that the Constitution “doesn’t prevent local and state governments from enacting their own laws.” But he refused to directly answer questions about whether he believes Washington’s gun ban was constitutional.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain struck at Obama’s ambiguity.

“Does Barack Obama believe that the D.C. handgun ban was constitutional or unconstitutional? We can’t tell and Barack Obama won’t say,” McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a news release. “One would think that a candidate for our nation’s highest office and a self-described constitutional expert would be able to answer that simple question.”

McCain praised the court’s ruling, calling it “a landmark victory for Second Amendment freedom in the United States. For this first time in the history of our Republic, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms was and is an individual right as intended by our Founding Fathers.”

Richardson has his own concealed-carry permit. His past statements and actions, which you can read about by clicking here, suggest he’s probably with McCain on this issue.

Update, June 27, 1:30 a.m.

Politicians who released statements praising the high court’s ruling after this article was originally published were Republican 2nd District candidate Ed Tinsley, Democratic 1st District candidate Martin Heinrich and Republican 3rd District candidate Dan East.