A Glimpse of Sanity? – Federal Judge Blocks New Mexico Governor’s Gun Ban Effort Using “Public Health Emergency”
I try not to cuss much, but I will admit when New Mexico Governor Lujan Grisham declared a “public health emergency” then issued a regional gun ban for the Albuquerque area, I was cussing quite a bit. I was cussing because this approach was instantly predictable, as the result of Americans allowing various governors to take control over free-range citizens during COVID-19 by declaring the same “public health emergencies.”
Thankfully, there was a massive backlash from citizens, local law enforcement, state law enforcement and the New Mexico Attorney General’s office. Now, fortunately, a federal judge has stepped in and blocked the unconstitutional gun ban. The blood pressure lowers a bit, but we have got to be on guard for the next test; they won’t quit.
New Mexico – A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily halted a 30-day order from New Mexico’s governor suspending the open and concealed carrying of guns in the Albuquerque area that had sparked bipartisan condemnation.
[…] During the hearing, U.S. District Judge David H. Urias, an appointee of President Joe Biden who took his seat on the bench last year, indicated that the numerous Supreme Court precedents on the Second Amendment suggested that the governor’s order would cause irreparable harm to citizens seeking to exercise their gun rights. Thus, he said, he had to issue a temporary strike of the ban — a move that does not rule on its merits.
“To be honest with you, I think you have kind of a hard road here to get up,” Urias told Holly Agajanian, the attorney for the governor’s office defending the rule.
In briefs and during Wednesday’s court session, lawyers for the various gun rights groups argued that Lujan Grisham and her administration went far beyond constitutional powers in issuing the order.
“The Second Amendment has no exception. It has no part of it that says as long as the state governor can issue an emergency, you’re allowed to take our citizens’ firearms,” Jason Bowles, an attorney representing the National Association for Gun Rights, said during the hearing. “There’s no historical evidence of that. There’s no support for it.”
[…] The court will hold a hearing to evaluate the merits of arguments on the rule on Oct. 3, Urias said on Wednesday. The temporary restraining order will extend until then, even though it would normally be limited to 14 days. The extension was accepted by both parties because counsel on both sides did not have availability for a court date within that two-week time frame.
The judge specifically enjoined two sections of the executive order that restricted gun use. Other parts of the governor’s order not in contention included instruction for various state agencies to analyze the sale and use of guns in New Mexico and monitor the presence of illegal substances such as fentanyl in the wastewater. (read more)
