HB316 goes down 30-38

House Bill 316 (No Animal Killing Contests) gets shot down today by a vote of 30 Yay to 38 Nay.

It was no secret that one of the biggest problems with local gun stores sponsoring a coyote contest was the fact that it involved "assault type" weapons. Participants from the previous highly publicized event in Los Lunas, hosted by Gunhawk Firearms, made it known that AR15 type weapons were the choice of hunters in these types of varmint eradication activities. The prize for the most confirmed kills also involved an AR15 or as the fearful call it - "assault weapons". This topic was so controversial initially that Calibers of Albuquerque originally dropped the event due to pressure from the public.

It didn't take long for House Representative Nathan Cote (D) to sieze the opportunity for a chance jump on anti-gun ban agenda. Many against the bill today included a very powerful voice of New Mexico - the people that raise cattle for a living in the southern part of this state. One of the flaws with the bill was oddly enough a legal definition of insects which would've also been included as part of the ban by HB316's definition because they are legally defined in many places as being part of the animal kingdom.

The bill and resulting vote is available online at the NMLEGIS.gov website HERE.

Thanks for the update. This is good to see.

I believe there may still be proposals for bills about animal protection. I did see an article a little while back mentioning HB 316 and how coyotes among other animals must be protected. The poor, cute, lovable coyotes. The same ones who kill livestock and peoples' pets for that matter.

When I read about that I couldn't help but think this was another blatant example of how these legislators and other bleeding hearts are completely out of touch with reality. Outlawing ranchers and farmers from protecting their livestock? Good luck with that, morons.