As we reported earlier, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued an order on Friday suspending open and concealed carry — the right to carry guns — in public across Albuquerque and the surrounding Bernalillo County for at least 30 days.
Democrat New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announces she is unilaterally “suspending open and concealed carry” in Albuquerque pic.twitter.com/6Hjkab92ew
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 9, 2023
Her excuse for doing away with the Second Amendment, when grilled by the press? She claimed she had powers in the event of an emergency and she was calling this a “public health order.” Her response here is pretty crazy.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham when asked about her “emergency” order barring people from carrying guns:
“No constitutional right, in my view, including my oath, is intended to be absolute. There are restrictions on free speech. There are restrictions on my freedoms.” pic.twitter.com/OTWo6mYseM
— Jeff Charles, An Awful Pundit🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) September 9, 2023
No, you don’t get to suspend the Constitution for “emergencies.” If you could, Democrats would be coming up with emergencies all the time to take our rights away. We’ve already seen what a bad road that can be with COVID, so they can’t try this here. But Lujan Grisham wasn’t letting the Constitution stop her. Her response was dangerously unhinged, thinking that she was justified in taking away rights to serve her political agenda, meanwhile endangering all those people by doing so, in a climate she claimed was “out of control.”
Not only did she say her oath to the Consitution wasn’t absolute, but she also acknowledged that criminals weren’t likely to abide by the executive order.
New Mexico governor issues order suspending the right to carry firearms in public
— Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) September 9, 2023
But she still claimed that it was a “strong message.” Yes, it’s a message that she’s not interested in going after the criminals, that she’s trying to curb the rights of the law-abiding.
So what about the law enforcement response to this unconstitutional order? When an official takes such a position antithetical to the Constitution, law enforcement are the ones who need to be standing up to her and saying no; indeed, not only not supporting her but telling her that she is acting against the Constitution.
Here’s what the two law enforcement heads of the police agencies said.
Chief Medina sent the following message to APD officers about the governor’s state order on gun possession. pic.twitter.com/kUIptQhFZL
— Albuquerque Police Department (@ABQPOLICE) September 9, 2023
Translation: The state police are going to be enforcing her civil edict, not us. But nowhere does he say it’s wrong or condemn it.
Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen’s response was a little better; at least he said he had reservations.
Today, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued an emergency order temporarily suspending open and concealed carry laws in Albuquerque and throughout Bernalillo County for the next 30 days. This move has been positioned as a response to the alarming and tragic rise in gun violence,… pic.twitter.com/prfHGdISS1
— BCSO (Sheriff) NM (@BCSONM) September 9, 2023
This move has been positioned as a response to the alarming and tragic rise in gun violence, particularly the heart-wrenching death of an 11-year-old boy this past week. First and foremost, every lost life is a tragedy, and the well-being of our community is of paramount concern to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. We share in the collective grief and urgency to address this issue.
However, as the elected Sheriff, I have reservations regarding this order. While I understand and appreciate the urgency, the temporary ban challenges the foundation of our Constitution, which I swore an oath to uphold. I am wary of placing my deputies in positions that could lead to civil liability conflicts, as well as the potential risks posed by prohibiting law-abiding citizens from their constitutional right to self-defense.
But he went on to say he was committed to working with Lujan Grisham. Some interpreted that as a polite “no.” Maybe. But there wasn’t any “no” in there, just “reservations.” It should be a lot stronger than that and when you don’t say that, you’re not fully upholding your oath.
Plus, both of those guys were sitting there with her when she issued the order saying that they were committed to working with her, even though they might have different thoughts. I get having to work for her. But you shouldn’t be sitting at a table with her when she is coming out with something so wrong.
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That’s troubling that they aren’t stronger on the issue.
How crazy is this situation? When even Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) calls you out the tyranny and is the voice of sanity in a situation, you know how truly messed up things are.
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. https://t.co/kOhLMtaOl2
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) September 9, 2023
Hell may just be freezing because I’m about to say those words I never thought I would: Ted Lieu is right. It’s that simple, and it’s more than a little disturbing that Lujan Grisham, as well as some of the people around her, can’t put out that simple statement.
