A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public in Albuquerque and the surrounding county.
The Democratic governor’s Sept. 8 directive sought to ban the concealed and open carry of firearms in New Mexico’s most populous metropolitan area for 30 days, citing public health concerns in response to recent shootings in the Land of Enchantment.
“They just want the right to bear arms,” U.S. District Court Judge David Urías said Tuesday in ruling that the governor’s gun ban ignored the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in the case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, who made clear that the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a firearm outside the home for self-defense.
“I don’t blame her for wanting to take action in the face of terrible acts,” Urías, appointed by President Biden, said of Luján Grisham’s order, before explaining that he had to deal with a narrower issue regarding citizens’ rights. .
Governor Lujan Grisham attempted to implement a gun ban in Albuquerque in response to a recent series of shootings. AP
U.S. District Court Judge David Urías said, “All they want is the right to bear arms.” The University of New Mexico
State police had the authority, under Lujan Grisham, to enforce the temporary ban by imposing civil penalties and a fine of up to $5,000 for people found carrying a firearm in public, but the chief Albuquerque police officer Harold Medina said he would not enforce the ban.
Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen also opposed the order, calling it “unconstitutional.”
“Today a judge temporarily blocked sections of our public health order, but recognized the significant problem of gun violence in this state, particularly the deaths of children,” Luján Grisham said in a statement. “I refuse to resign myself to the status quo. As governor, I see the pain of families who lost loved ones to gun violence every day, and I will never stop fighting to prevent other families from suffering these tragedies.”
“In the last four days, I have seen more attention to solving the gun violence crisis than in the last four years,” he added.
The governor’s public health order sparked a backlash from law enforcement and gun rights advocates in the state. AP
Urías allowed other aspects of the governor’s public health order to remain in effect, including monthly inspections of firearms dealers across the state, reporting of shooting victims at New Mexico hospitals and drug testing at sewage water.
The order sparked a flurry of legal challenges arguing that it constituted an infringement of civil rights protected by the Second Amendment.
Republican state lawmakers called for impeachment proceedings against the governor in response to the gun ban order.
The judge’s temporary restraining order will remain in effect until a court hearing on October 3.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn