On September 15, 2023, one week after issuing an order banning concealed and open carry in Albuquerque and other New Mexico cities, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) amended her order so that it applies only to city parks and playgrounds.
Grisham’s amendments to the order came two days after a Biden-appointed judge issued a temporary restraining order against her concealed carry ban.
On Friday, Grisham held a press conference to announce the changes to her order.
The Santa Fe New Mexican quoted Grisham saying, “We have removed the requirement that open and concealed carry cannot occur until the public health order has been removed or extended anywhere in the city.”
I have amended the public health order to specify that you cannot carry #guns in city parks or playgrounds in Albuquerque & Bernalillo Co. I respect the judge's decision on the last public order, but I am far from done fighting to protect New Mexicans. https://t.co/Ox2nNIilrs
— Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) September 15, 2023
Grisham’s original order banning concealed and open carry in many New Mexico cities was slammed by gun control activist David Hogg.
The Bernalillo County District Attorney–who is over Albuquerque–made clear he would not enforce it, as did the Albuquerque police chief and the Bernalillo County Sheriff.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez (D) made clear he would not defend Grisham’s order in court.
KOB4 noted that Torrez wrote, “Given that only responsible gun owners are likely to abide, much less recognize your ban, it is unclear how this action will lead to a measurable decline in gun violence in our community … The data do not support the conclusion that gun violence in our community is attributable to otherwise law-abiding citizens exercising their constitutional right to carry firearms for protection outside the home.”
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
