After the governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, issued a public health order that suspends -for at least one month- the right to bear arms in public ("concealed and open" carry) in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, the National Gun Rights Association filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in New Mexico for the sake of the rule as unconstitutional.
"Gov. Lujan Grisham is throwing up a middle finger to the Constitution and the Supreme Court. She needs to be held accountable for stripping the God-given rights of millions away with the stroke of a pen," president of the Pro-Arms Association, Dudley Brown, said in a statement while calling on her to repeal the order.
Brown said that the power that governors have – in this case Lujan Grisham – to issue emergency declarations is a "danger" because it allows presidents not to respect the Constitution and exceed their functions:
This is the very danger of runaway executives who believe they have unilateral authority to suspend the Constitution under the guise of an 'emergency'. This is exactly what we warned about during COVID. It’s a tale as old as time, give emergency powers, lose fundamental rights.
"New Mexico has one of the highest rates of gun violence in the country"
Last Friday, Lujan Grisham signed the executive order to ban the carrying of guns in public. She argued her decision with the fact that New Mexico has "one of the highest rates of gun violence in the country" and that it has seen "the number of mass shootings increase."
Today, I signed an executive order declaring gun violence a public health emergency. To my fellow citizens: get loud. Step up. Demand change: from your neighbors, from your friends, from your communities, from your elected leaders. Enough is enough. More coming from me tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/jOt4fv4YDC
— Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) September 7, 2023
According to the website Statista, New Mexico is the third highest state with the number of firearm deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, reaching (27.8) so far this year.
