New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday suspended laws that allow open and concealed carry of firearms in Albuquerque for 30 days after declaring a public health emergency. The order, in my view, is flagrantly unconstitutional under existing Second Amendment precedent. It could also be a calculated effort to evade a ruling by making the period of suspension so short that it becomes moot before any final decision is reached by a court.
The order cites recent cases of gun-related violence in and around the city, including the killing of an 11-year-old boy dead and the wounding of a woman in their vehicle in an apparent road rage incident after a baseball game.
Grisham declared that “as I said yesterday, the time for standard measures has passed. And when New Mexicans are afraid to be in crowds, to take their kids to school, to leave a baseball game—when their very right to exist is threatened by the prospect of violence at every turn—something is very wrong.”
Democratic leaders have increasingly turned to a claim used successfully during the pandemic in declaring a health emergency to maximize unilateral authority of governors. There have also been calls to declare racism a public health emergency, supported by groups like the American Public Health Association. Transgender programs have also been declared a public health emergency by some groups. The motivation behind many of these calls is not to negate constitutional rights, but the question is whether such declarations allow governors discretion to suspend or curtail individual rights.
As the list of claimed health emergencies grow, even state Democratic judges may begin to balk at the obvious end run around constitutional rights.
The order allows for an expansion to other cities that meet the threshold for violent crime if 1,000 or more violent crimes per 100,000 residents have occurred per year since 2021. It also sets a threshold of 90 firearms-related emergency room visits per 100,000 residents have occurred between July 2022 and June of this year.
The taking away of individual rights as an emergency measure is hardly new. For centuries, governments have claimed that the suspension of individual rights is necessary for the good of citizens.
What is striking about this effort is the short specified period. By setting a 30-day period, the Governor makes it difficult to secure a final decision. She could face a preliminary injunction in that time. However, if she gets a sympathetic trial judge, the time could run out before a final ruling can be secured on appeal. In any case, it makes it less likely that the case can be taken to the Supreme Court or even through the federal court system.
Yet, challengers could argue that the matter is not moot when the order can be and is likely to be repeated in the future. That is always a challenging claim to make, but it is clearly true in this case. What is clear is that this is unambiguously and undeniably unconstitutional under existing precedent.
Even if an injunction is secured on the basis of a presumptively unconstitutional act, many will of course celebrate the boldness of Grisham in taking away an individual right under a clever measure. It is, however, too clever by half. If a court decides that this is not moot at the end of the period, New Mexico could supply a vehicle to curtail future such claims.
We have seen how Democratic strongholds have proven the greatest assets for gun-rights advocates.
Major Democratic cities are delivering lasting self-inflicted wounds to gun control efforts with poorly conceived and poorly drafted measures.
In 2008, the District of Columbia brought us District of Columbia v. Heller, the watershed decision declaring that the Second Amendment protects the individual right of gun possession.
In 2010, Chicago brought us McDonald v. City of Chicago, in which the Court declared that that right is incorporated against state and local government.
However, no state has done more for the Second Amendment than New York. The state has been a fountain of unconstitutional laws — and the basis for a series of wins for Second Amendment advocates.
New Mexico could now prove the next big opportunity for gun rights advocates in tackling the public health rationale for gun control.
Actually this could be an interesting social experiment.
All law abiding citizens are not allowed to carry at all.
Let us see what happens to the crime rate during this time.
As Matt points out, “Because criminals obey laws. And mandates”
It has worked so well in cities like Chicago, DC, Baltimore . . .
/sarc off
Professor Turley, please don’t undercut your strong arguments and eloquent support of them with obvious typos (this time, “cleaver” for “clever”).
Hitler governed under an emergency decree.
@Edwardmahl and Germany was a Constitutional Republic.
People should read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L Shirer. The American NAZIS aka National Socialist Democrat WOKE Party are trying to take us there. At this point they only lack a charismatic leader.
There are a number of books that are reflective of the current political, social environment. 1984, Brave New World.
A few days ago I was looking at the over view of the French Revolution. Not a one for one to our current situation but a number of disturbing parallels.
The idea of a governor overriding the US Constitution under the pretense of an “emergency” has ALREADY been litigated:
“*** But even in an emergency, the authority of government is not unfettered. The liberties protected by the Constitution are not fair-weather freedoms — in place when times are good but able to be cast aside in times of trouble. There is no question that this Country has faced, and will face, emergencies of every sort. But the solution to a national crisis can never be permitted to supersede the commitment to individual liberty that stands as the foundation of the American experiment. The Constitution cannot accept the concept of a ‘new normal’ where the basic liberties of the people can be subordinated to open-ended emergency mitigation measures. Rather, the Constitution sets certain lines that may not be crossed, even in an emergency. ***” Federal Judge William S. Stickman IV, 9-14-2020
County of Butler vs. Thomas W. Wolf, Civil Action No. 2:20-cv-677, Western District of Pennsylvania
Perhaps it was the expression “open-ended” in that ruling that caused the New Mexico governor to limit her transgression to 30 days. If so, the case is worth litigating on that matter alone.
The reason WHY the Dems make statements like this: …
“as I said yesterday, the time for standard measures has passed. And when New Mexicans are afraid to be in crowds, to take their kids to school, to leave a baseball game—when their very right to exist is threatened by the prospect of violence at every turn—something is very wrong.” …
Is because Scare Tactics work on Mommy’s & Daddy’s, Older, Physically Weaker People, who have gotten into the Parent Trap or Ignore-the-Problems | I’ve-got-Mine Traps, until 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 and supporting the Democratic Party rhetorical provides them with 𝐚 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞-𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲.
𝐅.𝐔. – 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐃𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐲 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 (Got It!) and You are not going to take the Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness the World “Out There” offers. It’s mine – Don’t Tread on Me!
You’d better have your S_ _ t together before you step inside my life with Me.
“The welfare of the people is always the alibi of the tyrant.” – Albert Camus
If someone gets arrested and prosecutes for carrying during the 30-dday ban, we can still obtain a court ruling on the constitutionality of the ban (which would be the obvious defense argument) after it expired.
From what I can see, open carry did not contribute in any way to the rise of incidents. Another example of misguided policy which (intentionally?) misses the root cause.
“. . . suspended laws [. . .] after declaring an emergency public health emergency.”
X number of people have been harmed by Joe’s words. So in the name of public health, I am (temporarily) suspending free speech.
X number of people have been harmed because the police had to wait for a search warrant. So in the name of public health and safety, I am (temporarily) suspending 4A.
X number of people have been harmed by those who were acquitted by a jury. So in the name of public safety, I am (temporarily) suspending jury trials.
Trump is a “menace to public health” (an actual quote). So we need unlimited powers to exclude him from the ballot.
And so it goes, until you are living in a full-blown dictatorship.
I guess people don’t know (or choose to evade) that France’s Reign of Terror was conducted by its “Committee of Public Safety.”
All good ideas.
Those who sacrifice security for the illusion of freedom end up being neither secure nor free.
“The oath to support the Constitution is the test.”
Article 2 – Section 6 of the Constitution of the state of New Mexico clearly states:
“No law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes, but nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons. No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.”
Sadly Constitutions can not enforce themselves.
It is the obligation of the legal citizens of the state and of the Republic to enforce the Constitutions upon the governments.
We elect our fellow citizens to serve us in governments, they are Public Servants, not leaders or dictators.
Any elected public servant who had taken an oath to support the Constitution and violated it, they must be removed from office.
In December 2019, a former campaign staffer and spokesperson, James Hallinan, accused Lujan Grisham of sexual battery. According to Hallinan, the incident took place during a staff meeting in 2018. By his account, Lujan Grisham poured a bottle of water on his crotch and then slapped and grabbed his crotch through his pants while laughing. He said the incident happened “in front of everybody”.
In April 2021, it was publicized that Lujan Grisham and her gubernatorial campaign, while denying the allegations, had reached a $62,500 settlement with the law firm representing Hallinan. The payment was made in monthly installments of $12,500 from November 2020 to March 2021.[62] Her political committee paid another $87,500 over six months, bringing the total payout to $150,000.[63]
In February 2021, an investigative team from Albuquerque TV station KOB found reports of more than $6,500 worth of groceries bought from the governor’s contingency fund, which is intended for travel or official functions to promote the state. According to public receipts through an Inspection of Public Records Act request, the items include anything from laundry detergent to Wagyu beef, tuna steaks, top sirloin and hundreds of dollars in alcohol purchases.”
How is she (still) in office?
>She is part of the prominent Lujan political family in New Mexico, many of whose members have served in elected and appointed positions in government.
And not, unconstitutional gun grab.
Oh, of course. Typical. All of it.
SANTA FE — Phoenix police say they are investigating the death of New Mexico political consultant James Hallinan but saw no signs of foul play.
Hallinan, 40, died last week in Phoenix, where he owned a home.
Democratic leaders have increasing turned to a claim used successfully during the pandemic in declaring a health emergency to maximize unilateral authority of governors.
Judges really exposed their corruption when they allowed the govt to prohibit people from exercising their religion, during covid. Judges lacked any constitutional basis to allow such restrictions
We also have judges overturning local School boards that require parental notification of a child’s gender intentions. Violating parents power. I have no idea where a judge finds the power to overturn a schoolboard, and ruling in favor of school administrators, and teachers.
In other News: New Mexico Governor enacts temporary $10,000 poll tax, effective from November 1st to the 30th, due to the public health emergency of voters electing dictators and tyrants to office.
~+~
The governor stated, “Ninety-Nine percent of all wars and subjugations of the people are caused by politicians. I see violent repressions around every corner.”
Because criminals obey laws. And mandates
History will record this Governor’s ill-conceived unconstitutional act as one more brick in the wall — on the way to America’s 2nd Civil War —-
Remember what happened when the Soviet Union fell apart, and the leader of Romania was taken by the citizens and ended up very dead very quickly?
It was reminiscent of Marie Antionette in the late 1780’s —-
The Governor is a tyrant – we might as well say so
After shooting Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth leapt from the balcony to the stage of Ford’s Theater in Washington, breaking his leg in the process, and shouted, “Sic Semper Tyrannis!”
Help me understand how this move is not so harmful to the life and safety of Law abiding citizens that it does not warrant a Federal Judge to get out of bed at Midnight on a Saturday to issue and emergency stay? In fact, how is this move not an arrestable offense under the Insurrection or Treason statutes? It is a flagrant violation of the Constitution and Case Law. There is NO viable argument for this edict. Why is there no Sheriff already slapping handcuff on this Communist?
Don’t discriminate. Ban bows & arrows & tomahawks too…
Let’s not forget knives, bats, poisons, matches, and (perhaps worst of all) human hands, a particular threat to women (well, maybe not trans-women).
Impeachment.
Now that there is flippin’ hysterical. Take away the one thing that makes people feel safe- their carry permit and weapon. Embolden the crooks because they have to be laughing their butts all the way to their next shooting. We all KNOW that they will abide by this edict.
Ever notice how when Progressives abuse their power it never actually fixes the problem? Mask mandates; suppressing free speech from social media; throwing wind mills up around the landscape; and suspending conceal carry permits makes them FEEL better . . . but to what end?
Every so often, their feel good antics are exposed for what they are. Consider New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ hysterical plea for help now that his sanctimonious sanctuary city idea has turned into a disaster.
Michelle and her toady mayor of Albuquerque Keller, refuse to admit that their open borders policies are the root cause of the violent crime wave in Albuquerque. Drugs are streaming into and through New Mexico and almost every shooting has drugs associated with it. But the Governor and Mayor would much rather blame a gun than address the real problem.
” but to what end?”
Brute power and control.