NM, US need better, not just more, gun laws

In their (Nov. 11) opinion piece, Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan start out on the right foot in calling out the strong linkages between gun violence and domestic violence. Indeed, Professor Susan Sorenson at the University of Pennsylvania has shown that even when not used to shoot someone, the mere presence of guns in violent households is often used to intimidate. Hence, we have to address this linkage with carefully written law and policy.

New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence crafted a gun violence restraining order bill in 2017 that had bipartisan support, passed both houses of the Legislature, only to be inexplicably vetoed by Gov. Martinez. This bill was generous in that it would allow the recipient of a restraining order to store guns at a gun shop or with a trusted friend . ... I wonder if our governor is having second thoughts about her veto after Southerland.

Sadly, Goodman and Moynihan then completely lose focus ... lambasting our lack of more gun laws of unknown focus and blasting President Trump for overruling an Obama executive order so poorly conceived and written it was disavowed by virtually every mental health organization as well as the ACLU. It is this scattershot, misdirected thinking by liberals such as Goodman that torpedoes efforts to arrive at consensus, lasersharp gun laws that could do some good .... KHALIL J. SPENCER Los Alamos