A press release indicated: "The action plan includes a suspension of open and concealed carry laws in Bernalillo County, temporarily prohibiting the carrying of guns on public property with certain exceptions. Exceptions include licensed security guards and law enforcement officers. Citizens with permits to carry firearms are free to possess their weapons on private property (such as at a gun range or gun store), provided they transport the firearm in a locked box, use a trigger lock, or some other mechanism that renders the gun incapable of being fired." It applies to all public places, including government buildings and in open spaces. It will expire after 30 days unless Grisham opts to extend it.
The peaceful gathering on Sunday, September 10, was attended by people with their guns on display while holding American flags and Gadsden flags.
One of the speakers encouraged the gun owners to show up every day in defiance of Grisham's executive order. "This will not stand! We will not comply!" a speaker also shouted to applause. "You can wear your guns and you are entitled to carry them," another one said.
The conservative candidate for New Mexico State Senate District 21 Nicole Tobiassen also highlighted the significance of their "nonviolent" get-together. "It is important that the press can see that we gather calmly but we are passionate, logical and reasonable. We are just asking for our Constitutional rights to be upheld," she pointed out.
VIDEO THREAD: Gun owners - many visibly armed - rallied in old Town Albuquerque today to openly defy the New Mexico Governor's Executive Order banning the open and concealed carry of firearms there as a one-month "emergency."
Police did not intervene or enforce the order. pic.twitter.com/BAk0kDZC9A
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) September 10, 2023
The video coverage of the said assembly was posted on X, formerly Twitter, where Ford Fischer, a reporter on the scene, said that there was no police intervention. The cops did not enforce the $5,000 fine for violators.
The ban followed Grisham's Friday declaration of a public health emergency as a response to shootings in the city, including those that killed a thirteen-year-old girl on July 28, a five-year-old girl on August 14, and an eleven-year-old boy on September 6. "As I said yesterday, the time for standard measures has passed," the governor said in a statement. "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."
The tyrannical order got pushback from state lawmakers, with some of them calling for her impeachment. "This emergency order violates the governor's oath to protect and defend the rights of New Mexicans and is illegal in nature. The legislature has a duty to intervene when the government is overstepping its boundaries, and Governor Grisham's order and comments disqualify her from continuing her tenure as Governor," State Reps. Stefani Lord and John Block said in a press release. (Related: Gun rights group sues New Mexico Gov. Michelle Grisham for declaring a "gun violence public emergency.")
Sheriff vows not to enforce unconstitutional order
Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said during a news conference that he is not complying with the unconstitutional order. "While I understand and appreciate the urgency, the temporary ban challenges the foundation of our constitution, which I swore an oath to uphold," Allen said in a statement Friday. "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."
In a press conference on Monday, Allen expanded his concerns saying the ban does nothing to curb gun violence other than punish law-abiding citizens from their constitutional right to self-defense. "I do not want to have political violence towards my deputies or here in Bernalillo County. I have enough violence here," he added. The county's top prosecutor, the Albuquerque mayor, and the city's police chief also vowed not to implement the ban.
A Republican presidential candidate criticized Grisham for the order, suggesting she focus on her immigration policy. "Friendly suggestion to Lujan Grisham on how to *actually* reduce violent crime in your state: focus on sealing your own state's southern border & stop the virtue signaling elsewhere," Vivek Ramaswamy said in a post on X.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said that Grisham should be "reprimanded" for this order and that she's not going to succeed here. "This is so clearly and blatantly unconstitutional that I think it will be knocked down."
Grisham's move did not only get backlash from the conservatives and GOPs, even pro-gun-control reform supporters criticized her order. "I support gun safety laws. However, this order from the Governor of New Mexico violates the U.S. Constitution," Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Ca) on social media. "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."
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