At the time of this post, the New Mexico state legislature is poised to enact sweeping restrictions on Second Amendment rights with SB0017, a bill which would ban the sale of “extremely dangerous weapons” such as any gas-operated firearm, any firearm with a detachable magazine holding more than ten rounds, or indeed even a single .50 caliber cartridge.

In this leftist’s opinion, the so-called “Stop Illegal Gun Trade and Extremely Dangerous Weapons Act” is a textbook piece of performative liberal gun control legislation: It is misguided, poorly written, likely unconstitutional, and will have little real-world effect beyond harming small businesses and further restricting people’s rights.

Besides the obvious misunderstandings of how firearms actually operate, the fundamental misunderstanding displayed by this bill, as with most gun control legislation in the United States, is of the root causes of gun violence. Gun control bills purport to be a form of harm reduction in order to play on voters’ empathy. The statistical data, however, does not support the approach that SB0017 and other gun control bills take: the vast majority of gun violence is committed with handguns, yet “assault rifles” are the perennial target of these bills. Almost no violent crimes are committed with firearms chambered in .50 BMG, yet “50 caliber” weapons and cartridges are specifically banned in the New Mexico bill. There is also the tragic fact that most gun deaths are self-inflicted, something rarely addressed by legislators.

The reality is that, even aside from the near-certain ineffectiveness of the proposed bans, there are far better and data-supported ways for lawmakers to improve the lives of their constituents. New Mexico is one of the most impoverished states in the country, with some of the highest rates of chronic illnesses like diabetes and obesity. The State could take huge steps towards resolving these issues by funding no-strings housing, enacting single-payer healthcare, instituting universal basic income, or passing dozens of other extremely well-supported reforms, but instead they waste legislative time and taxpayer money on magazine size limits and arbitrary sale restrictions that will, in all likelihood, be overturned in a higher court (after years of legal proceedings and dozens of small business closures).

Those who write and enforce the laws have no mandate to actually solve our problems, or to keep us safe. Capitalism is the problem. We keep us safe.