New Mexico Democrat Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham banned people from being able to carry guns in Albuquerque and the surrounding county for at least the next 30 days after a kid was killed during a road rage incident.
Grisham signed an executive order on Thursday declaring that gun violence was a public health emergency in the Democrat-controlled state.
On Friday, Grisham unilaterally suspended open and concealed carry laws in Albuquerque and the surrounding area. She said that she could further lengthen or renew her order — which was immediately slammed by many as being unconstitutional.
Grisham effectively admitted that her order might be unconstitutional when she conceded that she might not win legal challenges filed against the order.
“Now I am sure as I go through the rest of this, there will be a lot of questions about whether or not we think we have the legal right to do that. I am sure that before you write this, there will be a legal challenge,” she said. “And I can’t tell you that we win it given all of the different challenges to gun violence laws and restrictions on individual firearm access and control.”
WATCH: New Mexico’s Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham admits she is violating the constitution by suspending the right to carry a gun:
"There will be a legal challenge and I can't tell you that we win it"
Her actions are utterly disgraceful.
pic.twitter.com/clLnW3uX5Q— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) September 9, 2023
She was later challenged directly over whether her decision to unilaterally override laws was unconstitutional.
Grisham responded that her decision to declare an emergency gives her “additional powers.”
“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.”
Grisham then spoke about the 11-year-old who was killed this week and others who have been killed in shootings.
“But wait a minute, you’re talking about crimes,” the reporter pushed back. “There are already laws against the crime. So how are their rights [inaudible] –?”
“But again, if I’m unsafe, who’s standing up for that right?” Grisham responded. “If this climate is so out of control, somebody should do something. I’m doing as much as I know to do.”
She was asked by a different reporter: “Do you really think that criminals are going to hear this message and not carry a gun in Albuquerque on the streets for 30 days?”
“Uhhh, no,” she answered.
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