New Mexico gun owners challenge governor’s ‘unconstitutional’ gun ban.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—Luke Saiz of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is defying the public health order by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and carrying multiple firearms in his vehicle for personal safety. Despite the potential $5,000 fine, Saiz believes it is his constitutional right to have these weapons.
“Today, yeah, I carry a bunch of different ones,” said Saiz confidently, sporting glasses, a long beard, and a camouflage cap while holstering a Glock 9mm handgun by his waist.
The governor’s order, which suspended the right to carry firearms in public for 30 days, was issued in response to three shooting deaths involving children since July. However, Saiz remains steadfast in his belief that his constitutional rights should not be infringed upon.
The governor argues that the recent shooting deaths constitute a public health emergency, granting her the authority to act unilaterally. However, Saiz disagrees and believes that his rights should not be limited.
Grisham stated, “No constitutional right, in my view, including my oath, is intended to be absolute.”
The Epoch Times reached out to Ms. Grisham’s office for comment.
The public health order went into effect on Sept. 8 in Bernalillo County, home to Albuquerque, the state’s largest city.
“I think it’s unconscionable,” said Saiz, a staunch Republican, regarding the governor’s executive order. However, he was pleasantly surprised to see Democrats opposing her decision.
“She has this concept that nothing is absolute. Her oath isn’t absolute. That in itself is enough to be removed from office. To say an oath is not absolute is garbage,” Saiz told The Epoch Times.
Sheriff, Attorney General Will ‘Not Comply’
Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen has publicly declared the governor’s order unconstitutional and refused to enforce it.
At least two Republican lawmakers in New Mexico have called for the governor to be impeached.
On Sept. 12, New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, a Democrat, announced he would not defend the governor against four lawsuits challenging her executive order.
“Though I recognize my statutory obligation as New Mexico’s chief legal officer to defend state officials when they are sued in their official capacity,” Mr. Torres wrote in the four-page letter to the governor, “my duty to uphold and defend the constitutional rights of every citizen takes precedence.”
“Simply put, I do not believe that the Emergency Order will have any meaningful impact on public safety, but, more importantly, I do not believe it passed constitutional muster.”
Firearms owner Robert Herrera of Albuquerque believes the governor’s public health order is an overreach of her authority and unrelated to public health or safety.
“She needs to bring back the death penalty. When they kill a small child or a police officer—bring back the death penalty and get rid of those types of people,” Herrera told The Epoch Times.
“She’s trying to use this and the pandemic together. They’re two different things.”
In a statement from the governor’s office, the executive order includes an action plan declaring illegal drugs a public health emergency.
“The action plan includes a suspension of open and concealed carry laws in Bernalillo County, temporarily prohibiting the carrying of guns on public property with certain exceptions.”
“Exceptions include licensed security guards and law enforcement officers. Citizens with permits to carry firearms are free to possess their weapons on private property (such as at a gun range or gun store), provided they transport the firearm in a locked box, use a trigger lock, or some other mechanism that renders the gun incapable of being fired.”
Licensed firearm owners who violate the public health order could face heavy fines of up to $5,000 per violation.
The governor’s executive order authorizes the Bernalillo County Regulation and Licensing Division to conduct monthly inspections of licensed firearms dealers to “ensure compliance with all sales and storage laws.”
Mark Abramson, proprietor of Los Ranchos Gun Shop in Albuquerque, expressed concerns about the monthly inspections.
“We don’t know what that means because they don’t have jurisdiction over us,” Abramson told The Epoch Times.
“This is not the existential threat to gun shops that COVID [was]. So there is a lot of noise about it and what’s next. She’s already crossed the line on what she’s probably allowed to do.”
City has ‘Bigger Problems’
“They can come in, but they don’t have any right to my books or anything else.”
Abramson believes that enforcing the order could be challenging without support from the county sheriff.
“Albuquerque has bigger problems,” he said. “Frankly, Bernalillo County has bigger problems than enforcing it.
“We all want gun violence to stop. Whether [Gov. Grisham] came up with this on her own, or is it part of a test of the waters is the question. It is the logical extension of those [COVID-19 public emergency] powers in testing how far they go.”
His prediction?
“She’s got a big problem. I think she gets shut down.”
Arnold Gallegos, proprietor of ABQ Guns in Albuquerque and an officer in the Jemez Springs Police Department, believes the governor’s executive order is “highly illegal” under the constitution.
“It’s a made-up public emergency. There are approximately eight times more people that die from fentanyl overdoses than there are by firearms—within the county, the city, and the state,” Gallegos told The Epoch Times. “But she won’t address anything like that because her agenda is to
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