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As early voting for the Albuquerque mayoral election begins, one candidate continues his support for the National Rifle Association.
At a ceremony at the Shooting Range Park Monday, incumbent Richard Berry extended an agreement between the city of Albuquerque and the National Rifle Association’s Enforcement Division. The agreement will keep the NRA’s annual National Police Shooting Championships in the city for five years.
According to a press release from the NRA, the NPSC has been held in Albuquerque since 2006. The competition spans six days and draws 600 competitors to New Mexico every year, according to the release.
In the release, Berry said he is “very excited” to extend the city’s agreement with the NRA. He said the competition helps Albuquerque’s tourism industry.
“This event brings in hundreds of participants from law enforcement agencies throughout North America and the world,” he said. “Hotel rooms are filled, and participants eat and shop locally while they are here. This is a testament to our facility and our great tournament staff who go out of their way to insure that competitors have a quality experience at this event.”
The NPSC began Saturday and will go on until Friday.
Berry did not respond to contact requests from the Daily Lobo by press time.
Berry’s agreement extension with the NRA has prompted his challengers to state their views about gun laws in the city.
Candidate Pete Dinelli said he thinks the city’s gun laws are sufficient. Still, he said that if elected, he would continue to work toward gun safety in Albuquerque.
“While I am a strong supporter of the protections afforded by the Second Amendment regarding the right to bear arms, I am also a firm believer in commonsense gun reform,” he said.
Dinelli said that he promises to sign with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a national bipartisan organization of mayors that aims “to get good, commonsense gun reform passed,” during his first day in office.
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“I believe that protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens coincides with keeping guns out of the wrong hands,” he said. “As mayor, I will work tirelessly to defend the freedoms we deserve while will striving to keep Albuquerque families safe from gun violence.”
And he does not support gun regulation, Dinelli said.
“I do not support gun regulation,” he said. “What I do support is commonsense reforms to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, including stringent background checks.”
But candidate Paul Heh said he supports gun regulation “on a limited basis.”
“As a society we always need checks and balances,” he said. “We always want to ensure that only responsible people are allowed to possess firearms. I am pro-gun and pro-Second Amendment.”
The city’s current gun laws “on the book are sufficient,” Heh said. He said providing more gun laws in the city will not necessarily improve safety because “it is the outlaws that do not care and violate the law. Most criminals do not believe the law is applicable to them.”
Still, Heh said he aims to have the Albuquerque Police Department provide gun training to residents if he wins the mayoral seat.
“There is no reason why the police department as part of community policing cannot provide classes that will instruct people on firearm safety,” he said. “If a person’s life is clearly endangered or another person’s life is endangered, that person has a right to protect themselves or another. This is not my preferred method. I want our police officers who are trained and paid to take the risk to handle these types of satiations.”
Early voting for the mayoral election will run until Oct. 4.
