Gov. Richardson
doesn't always carry. I expect that many here with permits don't pack 24x7x365, either. Are you going to tar them with the same brush? He's said that he doesn't use his permit because he doesn't need to. Sounds like situational awareness to me.
As a state Governor, he has a security detail that a) obviates his need to be personally armed, and b) probably prefers that he not carry, since his only task in a violent incident is to follow the instructions of his detail, and get to a place of safety as fast as possible. His being armed might well interfere with his security detail's ability to do their jobs, and if they think that's so, he should probably listen to them. They're paid to protect his life at the risk of their own, after all.
His legislative record speaks for itself. The fact that that record conflicts with your image of Democrats, and threatens the Republican party's control of this issue, is your problem, not his.
Maybe your preconceptions aren't the universal truths you thought they were. Maybe Bill Richardson is actually on our side, even though he's a (horrors!!) Democrat. Maybe if more Democratic elected officials thought and acted like he does, our rights would be safer for it. Maybe he should be rewarded for that stance. It's worth a thought.
--Shannon