Many of our readers, followers, and subscribers (across several platforms - all links) know that I am local in New Mexico and have reached out in reference to the insanity that occurred last night (9/8/23) that put our state in the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons (again).
I woke up this morning to dozens of messages and comments and I thought it appropriate to explain what the hell is going on here in the high desert.
What Happened
On Friday evening, September 8, 2023 Michelle Lujan-Grisham (MLG) (the Governor of New Mexico) issued a “Public Health Emergency Order". This “order” imposed temporary restrictions on firearms, drug monitoring, and other public safety measures.
In short, this “order” suspends anyone (outside of law enforcement) from engaging in open carry or concealed carry in public spaces for thirty days.
This order is not in effect for the entire state of New Mexico, but only for “cities and counties with 100,000 residents”. Essentially, the Albuquerque metro area. As the rest of the state is mostly rural and nearly half of the state’s population resides in the Albuquerque metro area.
Violators could face civil penalties and a fine of up to $5000.
MLG cited increased violent crime in Albuquerque - including a tragic case where an 11 year-old was killed in a road rage shooting a few days ago as the reason for this “order”.
Read the Public Health Emergency Order.
WTF?!?
My thoughts exactly. This “order” is obviously not constitutional. The Governor of a state cannot suspend inalienable rights because they feel like it. That is the great thing about our country. These rights were not granted to us by the government - we were born with them - that is the beauty. And they cannot casually be stripped in this fashion by a little tyrant Governor1.
MLG knows this and in her press conference she even stated that she, “expects legal challenges".
Enforcement
This is a “civil” order and will not be the responsibility of law enforcement to enforce. MLG made that clear in her press conference.
Also, within a few hours of this “order” going public other local leaders came forward with necessary public statements.
The Mayor of Albuquerque (Tim Keller), the Albuquerque Police Chief (Harold Medina), the Sheriff of Bernalillo County (John Allen), and the District Attorney of Bernalillo County (Sam Bregman) have all vowed to not enforce this order.
All of these elected leaders raised constitutional concerns, but were measured in their statements. This is because they are all Democrats and I think the citizens of NM were lucky that they broke with the Governor at all on this.
NM State Senate Republican Leader Greg Baca expressed the same message but in a more honest manner. Baca said, “A child is murdered, the perpetrator is still on the loose, and what does the governor do? She … targets law-abiding citizens with an unconstitutional gun order.”
Tyrants
An “emergency order” like this does create an interesting sociological experiment. In this instance we get a real live view of how our elected leaders and public officials will act if encouraged to violate constitutional rights and disarm citizens.
Often I hear on social media that “cops are tyrants” and that police officers will eventually enforce unconstitutional orders to violate the second amendment. I always fight back and explain that police officers are extremely pro 2A as I try to calm down the Alex Jones conspiracy crowd.
The first public statement issued in regards to this “emergency order” was from the Albuquerque Police Officers’ Association (APOA). This is the organization that represents Albuquerque Police officers (ie. the police union).
The APOA expressed that they are “deeply concerned and alarmed” by the actions taken by MLG and that this is a “clear violation of of civil rights that places officers at odds with their sworn oath to uphold the constitution of the State of New Mexico and the United States of America.”
APOA President Shaun Willoughby stated, “This is nothing more than a pathetic public relations stunt.” Also, the APOA said that, “The APOA feels strongly that this is a violation of the 2nd amendment rights of our citizens and is a direct request for all officers in the state of New Mexico to violate their oath of office.”
It is important to note that the public statement released by the APOA was drafted and made public before the statements by city leaders. This was a risk taken by the APOA - who chose to err on the side of the constitution.
This is a real-life example of what police will do (and how police should respond) when encouraged to violate civil liberties by an out of control and tyrannical governor.
Read the full statement from the APOA.
Crime
I recently wrote an article titled It’s Not That Complicated - which I would encourage MLG to read if the goal is to actually lower crime.
Essentially, just do three things:
Figure out who is committing the homicides.
Put a lot of police officers in the areas where these people are.
Enforce the law.
That’s it. That is the answer. If government leaders took this issue seriously and implemented these three things - thousands of lives would be saved and communities would be safer. This can be accomplished without violating constitutional rights.
Final Thoughts
The idea that violent maniacs who are violating our homicide laws and slaughtering each other in the street will blindly and completely follow an executive civil order regarding firearms is a very strange and naive way to see the world. It is incredible and disappointing that our elected leaders engage in this juvenile thinking.
An “emergency order” like this is fueled by ignorance, arrogance, ego or a sick combination of all three.
MLG is like 5’1’’
Spot on
This order has no support and is blatantly illegal. It sure seems like she is pandering for a new job on the very very far left. I don't know of any mainstream democrats in New Mexico who are supporting this. There is no republican party in NM, but those with and R next to their names also don't support it. hey finally something that D and R can agree upon. MLG brought the two sides together (sarcasm)