by Mark Schwendau
Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham came under bipartisan fire after she temporarily suspending (30 days) open and concealed carry across Albuquerque under an emergency health order from her office.
“I support gun safety laws. However, this order from the Governor of New Mexico violates the U.S. Constitution. No state in the union can suspend the federal Constitution. There is no such thing as a state public health emergency exception to the U.S. Constitution,” tweeted California Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu.
“Hey Ted, conceal and open carry are state laws that I have jurisdiction over. If you’re really interested in helping curb gun violence, I’d welcome you to join our next police academy class,” Gov. Grisham tweeted back.
Friday, September 8, Gov. Grisham issued an emergency order temporarily suspending open and concealed carry laws in Bernalillo County for at least 30 days. The announcement was her reaction to the fatal shootings of young children, including a 13-year-old girl in July, a 5-year-old girl in August, and an 11-year-old boy in September.
“As I said yesterday, the time for standard measures has passed,” the governor said, according to her office’s press release. “And when New Mexicans are afraid to be in crowds, to take their kids to school, to leave a baseball game – when their very right to exist is threatened by the prospect of violence at every turn – something is very wrong.”
Even liberal gun control activist David Hogg responded to Lieu, saying he “agreed” that such an order violates the Constitution, and followed that with Grisham’s reasoning that the ban does not hold water.
“I support gun safety, but there is no such thing as a state public health emergency exception to the U.S. Constitution,” Hogg posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Hogg followed with another post, “One of the things I appreciate most about the Democratic Party is we are not in a cult, and members hold different views on issues such as gun control.”
Meanwhile, two Republican state legislators in New Mexico, Reps. Stefani Lord and John Block, have called for Gov. Grisham’s impeachment over the order as an “abhorrent attempt at imposing a radical” agenda on residents.
“I am calling on counsel to begin the impeachment process against Governor Grisham,” Lord said.
“This is an abhorrent attempt at imposing a radical, progressive agenda on an unwilling populous. Rather than addressing crime at its core, Governor Grisham is restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners. Even Grisham believes this emergency order won’t prohibit criminals from carrying or using weapons; a basic admission that this will only put New Mexicans in danger as they won’t be able to defend themselves from violent crime,” Lord said.
Governor Grisham has also been hit with lawsuits from Second Amendment groups, including The National Association for Gun Rights, whose president said Lujan Grisham “is throwing up a middle finger to the Constitution.”
The NRA, communicating to Fox News Digital, also slammed the order as “shocking” and called on the governor to address “soft-on-criminal policies” to remedy crime trends instead of banning guns.
“Bernalillo Co. Sheriff rejects New Mexico governor’s gun ban through public health order”
On Monday, Sept. 11, Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen (BCSO) said his office would not enforce the governor’s public health order to combat gun violence. Allen said the order was unconstitutional and a direct violation of the oath of office both he and the governor took, to defend and uphold the Constitution of both the United States and State of New Mexico.
“The governor made it clear in her press conference,” Allen said. “She knew we as law enforcement did not agree with the order, and as a result, this was solely her decision.”
“This order will not do anything to curb gun violence other than punish law-abiding citizens from their constitutional right of self-defense,” Allen said.
Allen also cited political violence as a reason not to enforce her public health order.
“We need to look at solutions to address violent crimes involving juveniles with firearms, adults with firearms, pretrial release, and harsh penalties for violent crimes which also involve a firearm,” Allen said.
Gov. Grisham responded to BCSO’s rejection, “I don’t need a lecture on constitutionality from Sheriff Allen: what I need is action. What we need is for leaders to stand up for the victims of violent crime. We need law enforcement, district attorneys, public officials, school leaders, and state agencies to use every single tool at their disposal to stop this violence. Period.”
CONCLUSION:
What makes this governor’s emergency order so chilling at this point in time is this was a conspiracy theory circulating the Internet during the COVID pandemic. The story was that the government would curtail the Second Amendment rights using a bogus health emergency order as a façade to confiscate guns.
Copyright © 2023 by Mark S. Schwendau
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Mark S. Schwendau is a retired technology professor who has always had a sideline in news-editorial writing where his byline has been, “Bringing little known news to people who simply want to know the truth.” His website is www.IDrawIWrite.Tech.
