New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) issued an order Friday suspending, for 30 days, state residents’ rights to carry guns for self-defense in Albuquerque.
The ban applies to concealed and open carry.
AP Photo/Al Behrman, File
The Associated Press reported that the governor made the move in response to gun violence in the city of Albuquerque.
KOB4 noted the ban on carrying guns begins September 8 and runs for 30 days, after which the governor will make a decision about extending it.
When questioned about her order’s impact on the Second Amendment, the governor stressed her belief that “no constitutional right … is intended to be absolute.”
The Governor of New Mexico has just declared the 1st & 2nd Amendment “does not exist” due to an “emergency.”
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 9, 2023
Under this legal theory *all* of our “rights” are essentially eliminated.
Watch the most evil & tyrannical 60 seconds you’ve ever heard from a politician: pic.twitter.com/xLpMSTbyi2
The order came days after an 11-year-old boy was murdered in Albuquerque.
Albuquerque police chief Harold Medina responded to the governor’s order by making clear he will not enforce it. Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen indicated he is concerned the order violates New Mexicans’ constitutional rights.
George Frey/Getty Images
Legal challenges to the ban are expected.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at
