New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday declared a public health emergency over “gun violence” after the death of an 11-year-old boy. On Friday, he took the unprecedented step of “suspension” gun rights in Albuquerque, the state’s largest city, with other cities likely to follow suit.
Governor Lujan Grisham declared gun violence a public health emergency Thursday, after murder of an 11-year-old boy on the way home from an Isotopes game Wednesday night. This case, combined with other violent cases involving children, led to the decision.
The new public health order will come into force on Friday 8 September. After 30 days, they will evaluate whether to renew the order or make adjustments.
The public health order is a statewide mandate, but it only suspends open and concealed carry laws in communities with extremely high rates of violent crime and firearm-related emergency room visits. Right now, that only includes metro Albuquerque.
Grisham took to social media to try to justify his order, claiming that two to three children a month die from gunshot wounds in New Mexico.
Today I issued a 30-day ban on the open and concealed carry of handguns in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. Gun violence is killing 2-3 children every month in NM – every one of these deaths is unacceptable and must be stopped. https://t.co/KJdXUMBVaG
— Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) September 9, 2023
To say this is unconstitutional is a massive understatement. Gun rights, including properly passed open and concealed carry laws (New Mexico’s constitution always has Second Amendment-like protections), cannot simply be “suspended” by a governor, and do so under appearance of an emergency is tyrannical. If this were to stand, theoretically any right could be crushed by the state whenever a declaration of emergency is made.
How many children die in traffic accidents per month in New Mexico? Could Grisham unilaterally ban the use of cars within the state he leads to supposedly prevent driving deaths? Because this is the same logic that applies in relation to gun rights.
In the end, it’s not really about stopping the shooting of kids because people who shoot kids don’t follow gun laws. Rather, it’s Grisham trying to punish his adversaries in response to tragedies they have nothing to do with. Gang members don’t worry about legally concealing their weapons or obtaining them through legitimate means. Law abiding gun owners do. There is no reason to punish them, which perfectly exposes what Grisham is really doing.
No doubt the governor’s decision will be quickly challenged in court, as it should be. The idea that he can simply suspend gun rights, let alone do so indefinitely, as long as he does a 30-day review is insane. If this injustice is not corrected quickly and properly, it will open the door to all kinds of new aspects of government overreach, and you can bet Joe Biden will try it at the national level.
Finally, there is no real indication of who will enforce this order. Will the Albuquerque Police Department use its already limited resources to arrest legal gun owners? Time will tell.
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