New Mexico Governor Blasted From Left and Right Over Unconstitutional Gun Ban

NEW MEXICO — Ron DeSantis blasted New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Saturday, saying that she violated the U.S. Constitution when she used a “public health emergency” to “infringe on Second Amendment rights by executive fiat.”

“A SUSPENSION OF LAWS”

On Friday, Grisham decreed a public health order that would temporarily strip residents of their constitutional right to bear arms in the wake of multiple shootings in Albuquerque.

Among the cases she highlighted were several involving children, including an 11-year-old killed during a road rage incident after leaving a baseball game one day before the order. Another case involved a 5-year-old who was left dead after a drive-by shooting in a mobile home park. A third case occurred during a youth football practice at a park in northeast Albuquerque, where a 13-year-old was shot by another teen in July.

However, none of these crimes have been proven to be linked to the legal carry of firearms by adult law-abiding citizens – who are the targets of Lujan Grisham’s order.

“The time for standard measures has passed,” said Grisham. “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.”

Grisham said that her action plan included a suspension of open and concealed carry laws in Bernalillo County. The move temporarily prohibits residents from carrying guns on public property, with certain exceptions for licensed security guards and law enforcement officers. Grisham stressed that the suspension does not apply to private property.

When reporters asked Grisham if it was unconstitutional for her to ban residents from carrying a weapon when they were licensed by the state to do so, Grisham claimed that she had special powers during an emergency.

“If there’s an emergency, and I’ve declared an emergency for a temporary amount of time, I can invoke additional powers,” Grisham said.

“NOT SURPRISING”

The New Mexico governor has been widely criticized for abuse of power – something Ron DeSantis says is “not surprising.”

“Just a few months after ending the COVID ‘public health emergency,’ the Governor of New Mexico has declared a new ‘public health emergency:’ Guns,” DeSantis wrote on X on Saturday.

“She is now asserting the power to infringe on Second Amendment rights by executive fiat. This assertion is not surprising – since 2020, ‘public health’ has become a pretext for depriving citizens of civil liberties and trampling on our Constitutional rights.”

“It ends when I am President,” DeSantis added. “Your 2nd Amendment rights SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.”

The mayor of Albuquerque, Democrat Tim Keller, said on Saturday that his law enforcement officials will not enforce Lujan Grisham’s “unconstitutional gun ban order.”

Somewhat surprisingly, Leftist gun control activist David Hogg chimed in with the New Mexico governor’s critics. Hogg stated that the order violated the Constitution and followed up that Grisham’s reasoning for the temporary ban was invalid.

“I support gun safety laws,” Democratic California Rep. Ted Lieu wrote on X. “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.”

Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz expressed shock over agreeing with a Democrat on a gun issue. “Here are words I’ve never said before: @tedlieu is right,” Cruz wrote on X.