Is it preferable to do nothing than to try to enact legislation that many predict will be overturned in court?
The Democratic governor of New Mexico has come up with a novel strategy to reduce gun violence during the next month, but even supporters of stricter gun laws have called it unlawful.
Certain situations qualify as public health emergency.
The state’s governor, citing public health legislation, has suspended the open and concealed carry of weapons in high-crime zones for 30 days due to a declared public health emergency caused by gun violence and drug usage. The injunction does not apply to police officers or security guards.
Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, where the state’s significantly higher-than-average gun violence problem is concentrated, would be subject to the injunction. View the report published by AWN.
New gun control guidelines were established by the Supreme Court.
The issue, as pointed out by even some gun control proponents, is that Lujan Grisham’s decision appears to run counter to the US Supreme Court’s ever-expanding interpretation of the Second Amendment.
A 2022 Supreme Court decision is being used by gun rights supporters to call for a complete reevaluation of state gun control laws, which has led to subsequent judicial activity.
Background checks and a “red flag law” are two of the measures that New Mexico has that gun safety activists support. However, there are no waiting periods for purchasing firearms, and anybody over the age of 19 may openly carry a firearm anywhere.
“Time well spent”
On Monday, AWN reported that Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen had decided not to carry out a court order that would have limited that freedom.
“I’m telling you right now that a court order that is not going to be enforceable is overshadowing my efforts to find answers to the gun violence. Allen remarked, “It’s going to waste our time.”
On AWN on Tuesday, Lujan Grisham addressed the topic of public carry of firearms and noted that no tickets have been issued for breaching the order. She reasoned that if other forms of gun control, such as background checks, are constitutional, then her interim ban should be, too.
Some proponents of stricter gun laws have even questioned her logic.
David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting and co-founder of the gun control group March for Our Lives, said in a social media post, “I support gun safety but there is no such thing as a state public health emergency exception to the US Constitution.”
Several people have already taken the governor to court to challenge his directive.
During her interview with Poppy Harlow on “AWN This Morning,” Lujan Grisham said that the scale of the gun violence problem warrants a reevaluation of previous assumptions and judicial rulings regarding the Second Amendment.
Despite the fact that Lujan Grisham recognises “it is getting more challenging to find strategic efforts to keep everyone safe,” she insists she will continue to do so.
A string of terrible events
New Mexico’s gun violence rate is far higher than the national average, which was one of the reasons Lujan Grisham mentioned in declaring the public health emergency.
In addition, she spoke of:
Last Wednesday, a road rage incident in Albuquerque resulted in the shooting death of a little boy.
On July 28, a 13-year-old girl was shot and died; the suspected shooter was 14 years old, authorities say.
On August 13, a young girl, aged 5, was murdered while she slept in a living room.
The six victims slain in mass shootings in Farmington and Red River in May were also mentioned by Lujan-Grisham.
She argued that fewer weapons in circulation would make communities safer. “The evidence bears out, over and over again,” she added. And I’m concerned about the rights of all Americans under the Constitution, not just the ones the NRA thinks I should care about.
Is the governor convinced this is legal?
On Tuesday, Harlow questioned Lujan Grisham about whether or not she thinks the temporary ban on open carry violates the Constitution.
The governor responded with, “Well, we’re going to see.” I wouldn’t do anything unless I was certain in my right to do it. I am entitled to that.”
Target the wrong group of gun owners?
The Reload, a news website specialising in guns coverage, was founded by Stephen Gutowski. On Monday, he told Jake Tapper of AWN that persons with gun licences might not be the ones doing the shooting.
Gutowski argued that “the evidence points the other way generally,” noting that permit holders commit crimes at lower rates than the overall population in states that reveal crime statistics.
“That makes sense,” he said. “They are the people who go through the background check and get the permit in the first place, so I think that’s one of the reasons you see so much agreement that this is perhaps not the right path forward.”
“Where are you?”
During her AWN interview, Lujan Grisham vented her anger at the police for saying they wouldn’t enforce the ban.
To the police, I have a question: where are you? Exactly where are you at this moment? that’s what she said.
According to a 2021 AWN report, Albuquerque’s homicide rate was among the highest of any big city. In 2022, it broke even another record.
According to data kept by the Albuquerque police department, firearms were used in 73 of the 76 homicides that have occurred so far this year.
In response to Harlow’s question regarding what would happen once the 30-day moratorium expires or if the courts do step in as is widely anticipated, Lujan Grisham emphasised the need to urge the courts.
You’re “basically saying that you won’t be responsible to protect the citizens of the state” if you don’t “stand up for these kids” and “really test as hard as you can getting fewer guns and dealing with gun violence in a meaningful way,” she said.
