New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and her suspension of gun rights in Albuquerque (the state's largest city) because of a public health emergency has overtaken the weekend news cycle. Lujan Grisham decided to channel her fellow Democrat Governor to the northwest, California's Gavin "Hair Gel" Newsom, and declare her governmental powers were greater than the Constitution.
Listen to this absolute drivel:
WATCH:
JUST IN: New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham suggests that citizens with concealed carry permits in her state “should be” arrested for just walking on the sidewalk.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 9, 2023
The only person who should be arrested is Grisham.
Reporter: “If someone's got a concealed carry permit in… pic.twitter.com/zwGdgIisxX
"No constitutional right, in my view, including my oath is intended to be absolute."
Cue the lawsuits. Even her own Sheriff is saying he may not comply.
New Mexico sheriff refuses to enforce Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s ban on guns, which she justified on the basis of a “public health emergency,” saying the ban is unconstitutional.https://t.co/HbrmklDMbI
— Michael P Senger (@michaelpsenger) September 10, 2023
On Friday, Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Sheriff John Allen announced that he has "reservations" regarding an order from Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to suspend firearm laws for 30 days because it "challenges the foundation of our Constitution."
In a post on X, Allen acknowledged that "Every lost life is a tragedy, and the well-being of our community is of paramount concern to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office." He said, "However, as the elected Sheriff, I have reservations regarding this order."
In 2021, Republicans in the state legislature were calling New Mexico's crime a "public emergency" and requesting Lujan Grisham call a special session to address it.
Hailing the situation as a “public emergency,” Republican leaders recently penned a letter to Lujan Grisham where they called for immediate action based on their belief that “the increasing crime rate only seems to get worse with each passing day,” KOB4 reported.
Montoya stressed that nothing short of action will do.
"That's the real problem here,” he told KOB4. “We have a number of politicians who want to be soft on criminals and act like they are tough on crime.”
The circumstances surrounding that call for emergency response were similar: A middle schooler had been killed, and cops were being injured. Lujan Grisham's response at that time was anemic at best. This time? It's a "health emergency" that must be addressed, not by targeting criminal behavior, but law-abiding citizens.
Legal scholars like Jonathan Turley see trouble ahead, but this is all on brand for this Democrat. As a first-term governor, Lujan Grisham was a COVID lockdown zealot and pushed her population on vaccines and boosters. The state maintained one of the higher COVID infection rates, and despite being vaxxed and boosted, Lujan Grisham came down with COVID twice in 2022. Like California's Governor Hair Gel, Lujan Grisham held tightly to her emergency powers, maintaining the state's COVID restrictions on social distancing and mandates on masking, vaccines, and boosters through March of this year. So, she is just trading one form of hysteria for another, under the guise of public health. Many of us knew there would be a new pandemic push underway, and Lujan Grisham is revealing a page out of the Democrat playbook. Gun-grabbing is on the menu for 2024.
Lujan Grisham doesn't seem to care about the pushback or the criticism that she is getting from gun control advocates and even politicians in her own party. Two New Mexico Republican state senators are threatening her with impeachment, and the state House Republican lawmakers are filing a lawsuit against her in solidarity.
House Republicans today announced they will file a federal lawsuit alongside the NM Senate Republicans challenging the unconstitutional gun ban enacted by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. #nmpol #nmleg https://t.co/vaI4BGX4du
— NM House Republicans (@NMHouseGOP) September 10, 2023
Icing on the cake: Lujan Grisham's predecessor, the 31st New Mexico Governor, First Hispanic Woman to hold the office, and Republican Susana Martinez has called her out. Lujan Grisham likes to claim the moniker of "First Democrat Hispanic Woman," so it's kind of hilarious that Martinez came out of retirement to throw some shade.
….Stripping gun rights of law-abiding citizens does not decrease crime rates. In fact, it leaves law abiding citizens more vulnerable and helpless against those who commit violent crimes.
— Susana Martinez (@Gov_Martinez) September 9, 2023
Preach it, sister.
We cannot have political grandstanding, reckless and unconstitutional “emergency health orders” being issued that do nothing to criminals, but instead take aim at law abiding citizens.
— Susana Martinez (@Gov_Martinez) September 9, 2023
While Martinez's website touts her record on fighting crime, Lujan Grisham's inconsistent record can be hung around her neck like an albatross. She has granted clemency to more prisoners than her predecessors, and has said little on New Mexico's bail reform, which has done nothing to mitigate crime. Like most major cities in the nation, Albuquerque's crime has only gotten worse; hence, why they are where they are. As a two-term governor, Martinez has the street cred to speak into the issue, and some New Mexico constituents are glad that she is.
have missed you -- glad to see you speak out
— 🇺🇸 JimAaron 🇺🇸 (@ArOkTxNm1) September 10, 2023
Make no mistake: Lujan Grisham is using this to polish her higher ambitions. Whether she blinks on this matter or not, everybody now knows her name, which is the first step in seeking out rarer air. Lujan Grisham was on a shortlist for VP in 2020 but was not picked. So, besides being a good soldier for the Democrat agenda, Lujan Grisham sees this as an opportunity to put her naked ambition on full display while seeding the ground for the national push to grab your guns.
However this plays out, unlike Susana Martinez, Lujan Grisham likely will not make it through her second term in New Mexico.
Editor's note: A prior version of this article incorrectly indicated Lujan Grisham was still in her first term as Governor of New Mexico. We apologize to our readers for this error.
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