In her final months in office, Mayor Ginger Nelson is going out with a bang, pushing for more gun control regulations on law abiding Texas gun owners.

Last week, Nelson appeared at a press conference for Big City Mayors to unveil the organization’s legislative priorities for the current Texas legislative session. Nelson is a member of the organization, of which several mayors from across Texas have joined. The organization pushes different advocacy issues important to the mayors of those cities.

Among the organization’s legislative priorities introduced by Nelson and her fellow mayors are several requests for new ways to tax Texans. These priorities include continuing tax incentive options for cities, which provides relief to out-of-town companies at the expense of local taxpayers. The mayors are also pushing for the continuation of taxpayer-funded lobbying, which allows cities to pay wealthy Austin lobbyists to lobby for higher taxes, using taxes paid in by local taxpayers.

Those are bad enough, but one priority should especially leap off the page for Texans: “Support common sense firearm regulations and additional resources to help mitigate gun violence in our communities.”

Excuse me. What?

It’s no secret that Nelson has been cozying up to the gun control lobby during her final year in office. After all, she signed a letter last year asking Gov. Greg Abbott to prioritize increasing gun control in Texas. However, with her organization now pushing it harder, and with Nelson appearing at the press conference unveiling the priorities, she is going full-on gun grabber in her final months in office.

Nelson has never been a conservative, but she has stated she is a Republican in the past. Her recent shift to the left isn’t super shocking, as she is no longer trying to fool voters. However, remember that she also signed a controversial letter last year that some in Amarillo felt was degrading toward the LGBT community. This signals that Nelson isn’t necessarily showing her true colors as a full-on lib, but rather as what former congressional candidate Chris Ekstrom might describe as a “candy ass Republican.”

By “candy ass Republican,” I mean someone who likes to claim to be a member of the party for identity purposes, but who also operates as a liberal on key conservative priority issues. You know, like protecting gun rights and lowering taxes. Nelson has done neither of those things, and on her way out of office, she is pushing for higher taxes, and trying to take folks’ guns away. It’s because, if she is truly a Republican, then she is definitely a “candy ass Republican.”

The truth is Nelson has always been an enemy of taxpayers, but now she’s identifying herself as an enemy of gun owners. And it’s all because she truly doesn’t care about the issues important to local conservatives. Her tenure in office has always been about protecting the status quo and rewarding her friends and campaign donors. Now, on her way out of office, the only change she really wants to make is for it to be tougher to own a gun in Texas. That is incredibly telling.

Nelson’s time is up in office, and that is good news for Amarilloans. However, residents of this city need to remember her actions if she ever pops up as a candidate for office again. In addition, they need to remember this if she chooses to endorse someone as her replacement for mayor. After all, Nelson’s lieutenant, Freda Powell, has already filed to replace her boss. Do we really think she would vote differently on raising taxes and taking our guns away?