A federal judge on Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order against an executive order by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) declaring gun violence a “public health emergency.”
U.S. District Court Judge David Urias said the governor’s 30-day suspension of both concealed and open-carry firearms in the greater Albuquerque area went against a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which struck down a concealed carry law in New York State from 1913, with the Justices ruling that it violated the right to “keep and bear arms” under the Second Amendment.
Lujan Grisham’s executive order suspends open and concealed carry laws in cities and counties based on crime statistics. It also prohibits firearms on state property, including state buildings and schools, as well as at parks and other places where children gather. Under the order, licensed firearm dealers will be inspected monthly by New Mexico’s Regulation and Licensing Division to ensure compliance with sales and storage laws.
Grisham signed the executive order on September 7. The move follows the shooting deaths of three children in New Mexico between July and September, and a pair of mass shootings in the state.
Over this past weekend several gun rights organizations filed suits on Second Amendment grounds in response to the governor’s order.
“They just want the right to carry their guns,” Urias, a Biden appointee, said in issuing his restraining order.
The gun rights advocates who brought the lawsuits hailed the judge’s decision. “Governor Grisham’s tyranny is temporarily in check today,” said Dudley Brown, president of a Colorado gun group that filed one of the lawsuits.
Following the governor’s executive order, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller called for a special session of the state’s legislature to deal with gun crime, saying he needed legislation to fix a broken criminal justice system, regulate assault weapons and to provide addiction and mental health services.
“Albuquerque families can’t afford political debates that distract us from fighting violent crime,” Keller wrote in a letter Tuesday to the governor.
