New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, issued an emergency public health order on Friday that suspends the open and concealed carry of firearms in the state’s largest city of Albuquerque for 30 days.
The Democratic governor cited the recent murder of an 11-year-old boy who was shot and killed following a road rage incident as her rationale for declaring the emergency. Grisham said she is expecting legal challenges, but added that she felt compelled to act due to rising gun crime in the city.
Lujan Grisham also sent a letter requesting assistance for federal agents to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. The governor stated that she has been requesting federal aid since June 2022.Federal resources are needed to help curb “escalating violence and drug and human-trafficking activity that is ravaging our great state,” she said.
“The nature and volume of these crimes require focused attention from the federal government,” Grisham said at a press conference flanked by law enforcement officials.
The suspension of Second Amendment rights is tied to violent crime thresholds that the Albuquerque area is currently meeting. The order calls for “civil administrative penalties availably by law” that include fines up to $5,000, said Caroline Sweeney, a spokesperson for the governor’s office.
Police officers and licensed security guards are exempt from the ban.
Citizens will still be allowed to transport firearms to some private locations — such as a gun range or a gun store — provided that the transport container contains a trigger lock or another mechanism to prevent it from firing.
While taking questions at the press conference, Lujan Grisham asked reporters to envision a “perfect world” where a ban on firearms would allow police to focus on “the real criminals.”
“No constitutional right, in my view, including my oath, is intended to be absolute,” she said. “There are restrictions on free speech, there are restrictions on my freedoms,” she continued before listing victims of gun violence.
WATCH:
New Mexico Governor just shredded the 2nd Amendment because "public safety."
"I'm willing to do anything and everything. No constitutional right, in my view, is intended to be absolute."
This is madness. pic.twitter.com/zA46MwVf5m
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) September 9, 2023