{"id":74836,"date":"2021-11-28T19:55:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T01:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=74836"},"modified":"2021-11-28T19:55:33","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T01:55:33","slug":"74836","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=74836","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

In early colonial times, some colonies often ordered<\/em> the populace to bear their weapons to work and even to church services. Even farther back than that, in medieval Europe, the practice of being armed at certain public functions finally devolved into carrying huge, ornately decorated ‘Bearing Swords’ which was more an indication of class status. The bigger and more expensive, the higher up the ladder you- or the master a squire was carrying for -was.
\nThe city council of this town wants everyone attending council meetings to bear arms…. if they want to.
\nI rather like the idea.<\/p>\n

\n

\u2018Legally armed\u2019 rule has critics gunning for New Mexico town<\/a><\/p>\n

ESTANCIA, N.M. (AP) \u2014 Mayor Nathan Dial said a recently approved rule requiring people to be \u201clegally armed\u201d to attend an Estancia Town Council meeting is just a way of sending notice that the town is not going to let the state dictate what it can and cannot do.<\/p>\n

\u201cRural New Mexico is just tired of being pushed around,\u201d Dial told the Albuquerque Journal as he sat in town hall with a snub nose .357 on his hip. \u201cThis is not just about the Second Amendment. This is about all civil liberties.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But Morrow Hall, one of the two Estancia Board of Trustee members who voted against the rule, said it\u2019s just a stunt, a staged event, the mayor\u2019s reaction to a ban on bringing deadly weapons into the state Capitol building.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told the mayor, \u2018I can\u2019t support your rule. It\u2019s crazy,\u2019\u201d Hall said last week. \u201cHe said, \u2018I know it\u2019s crazy. But it\u2019s also crazy I can\u2019t carry a gun into the Roundhouse.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Hall said he doesn\u2019t understand why anyone would need to bear arms in the Roundhouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, that means going in to fight,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know who you would fight at the Roundhouse that you would need a firearm.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Dial said the term \u201clegally armed\u201d doesn\u2019t necessarily mean a weapon and could be defined as armed with knowledge.<\/p>\n

The state ban on weapons in the Capitol building goes into effect Dec. 6. The Estancia rule requiring people to be legally armed to attend meetings goes into effect Dec. 7.<\/p>\n

Nov. 30 is the deadline the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico has set for Estancia to rescind the rule or get sued \u201cfor constitutional and statutory violations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis new rule put forth by the Town of Estancia unequivocally violates the First Amendment,\u201d reads a letter sent by ACLU New Mexico to Dial and the town\u2019s Board of Trustees. \u201cThe law will deter community members from attending town council meetings to petition their local government, thus creating a chilling effect on the exercise of their fundamental rights under the First Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not unanimous<\/p>\n

Estancia\u2019s four-person Board of Trustees split 2-2 on the \u201clegally armed\u201d rule. Dial broke the tie with his affirmative vote.<\/p>\n

The rule reads: \u201cIn order to attend an Estancia Town Council meeting, one must be legally Armed. By entering this meeting, you acknowledge that you are prepared to defend yourself and beliefs with what you believe is necessary to do so. (This definition is at the discretion of the Executive Branch.)<\/p>\n

\u201cAny and all Religious, Medical or Ethical exceptions will be honored without question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dial said he never intended for the rule to keep people from exercising their right to attend public meetings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want anyone to be afraid to show up,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they don\u2019t want to carry a firearm that\u2019s their constitutional right.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mayor said the rule is intended only to make clear that the town has no intention of enacting a ban on weapons at public meetings as the state has done at the Capitol.<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s contention that \u201clegally armed\u201d could include knowledge doesn\u2019t wash for Maria Martinez Sanchez, deputy legal director for ACLU New Mexico. She said no one could be expected to interpret the rule\u2019s wording that way, and that ACLU will sue if the rule is not rescinded by Nov. 30.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need more specificity in order for people to know if they are violating the rule,\u201d Sanchez said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Cautious about government\u2019<\/p>\n

Estancia, the Torrance County seat, is about 52 miles southeast of Albuquerque and 17 miles south of Moriarty. Dial, 52, said the population, not including the inmates at the Torrance County Detention Facility, is about 1,200. The detention center is the town\u2019s major employer.<\/p>\n

Strung out along N.M. 41, which serves as the town\u2019s main street, are a couple of dollar stores, a food truck, a couple of service station\/convenience stores, an auto store, a hardware store and a restaurant. Other buildings appear empty or in disuse. A cafe closed just a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

Dial grew up in Estancia and graduated from Estancia High in 1986. He is retired from the Army, having served about 25 years with the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve, including stints on active duty. He has served in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Central America.<\/p>\n

He was recently elected to his second term as mayor, a job that pays him $650 a month after taxes.<\/p>\n

There is no doubt he is a staunch advocate for Second Amendment rights. He pushed a measure declaring Estancia a Second Amendment sanctuary town, and in January 2019, he showed up at the state Capitol wearing a sidearm to test a new rule banning weapons of all kinds during joint sessions of the House and Senate.<\/p>\n

Bitty Lutrick, 63, who grew up in Estancia, supports Dial\u2019s stance against state government.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the mayor because he is not one to sheepishly back down to government regulations if they infringe on our individual liberties,\u201d Lutrick said as she took a break from work at The Front Porch, the food truck business she started here six months ago. \u201cI just feel we need to be cautious about what we let the government do. I\u2019m not afraid of my fellow citizens, but I\u2019m cautious about the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Estancia native Cruzita Zamora, 38, feels the same way about Dial.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he has our best interests at heart,\u201d said Zamora, who is preparing to open an apothecary, soapery and gifts business in Estancia. \u201cI do feel people tend to view guns differently in the city than we do out here. In the city, it\u2019s about crime. Out here it\u2019s an everyday thing. We have them for hunting and for self-protection from whatever we need self-protecting for. I carry guns for snakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waste of time<\/p>\n

Tom Kennedy, 47, lives just north of Estancia. He is a lecturer in biology at the University of New Mexico and moved to Torrance County to get away from Albuquerque\u2019s crime. He visits Estancia several times a week to take his young daughters to the town park or to watch birds.<\/p>\n

He admits he sees things differently than most of his neighbors in this rural part of the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have guns, but I don\u2019t carry them,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is no need to carry a gun unless you are hunting an elk. It seems to me people out here are more interested in Second Amendment rights than in water needs, funding schools and fixing roads. If the mayor is talking about legally armed being about knowledge, then I don\u2019t think he is legally armed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Board of Trustee member Hall, 73, a former Estancia mayor, was just reelected to his third term on the panel.<\/p>\n

\u201cEssentially, the rule is meaningless,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has nothing to do with Estancia except that man (Dial) lives here. It\u2019s a waste of a lot of people\u2019s time. I just hope it doesn\u2019t end up costing us money.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In early colonial times, some colonies often ordered the populace to bear their weapons to work and even to church services. Even farther back than that, in medieval Europe, the practice of being armed at certain public functions finally devolved into carrying huge, ornately decorated ‘Bearing Swords’ which was more an indication of class status. … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,24,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-rights","category-rkba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74837,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74836\/revisions\/74837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}