New Mexico’s Governor Tried — and FAILED — to Stop Law-Abiding Residents from Defending Themselves with Guns

Michelle Grisham, the Democratic governor of New Mexico, issued a 30-day ban on carrying guns concealed or openly in Albuquerque and the surrounding county. The ban included legal permit holders. Why? Because she thought she could.

Grisham declared a “gun violence public emergency,” which she assumed gave her the authority to violate the U.S. Constitution.

The National Gun Rights Foundation (NAGR) sued on behalf of gun owners, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in NYSRPA v. Bruen (2022) to argue that the order was unconstitutional.

By a vote of 6-3, the high court ruled last June that New York’s law that required gun owners to provide “proper cause” to obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun outside their homes was unconstitutional.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the right to bear arms is not “a second-class right,” and the law violated the Fourteenth Amendment.

The gun owners’ argument convinced the court in New Mexico, which granted their request for a temporary restraining order against enforcement. The court contended that the plaintiffs showed a likelihood of succeeding on the merits and that they would suffer irreparable harm absent an injunction, among other things.

“Governor Grisham’s tyranny is temporarily in check today,” NAGR president Dudley Brown said in a statement. “Her own Attorney General has refused to defend her in court and the Biden appointed judge won’t back her play.”

See lawyer and legal analyst Jonathan Turley’s take on the governor’s obviously unconstitutional executive order.

Photo credit: Third Way Think Tank (Creative Commons) –  Some rights reserved

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