Coming to a State Near You (2) by Tom Reynolds
New Mexico Governor Michelle Grisham declared a public health emergency that imposed a 30 day suspension of open and concealed carry of firearms’ laws, in Albuquerque.
She suspended the 2nd Amendment!
Clearly unconstitutional, the 30 day, short term of the order is crafted to avoid a judicial ruling against it. A temporary restraining order to put it on hold might be possible. However, if she gets a sympathetic trial judge, the time could run out before a final ruling can be secured on appeal. The short term also makes it less likely that the case can be taken to the federal court system and ultimately to the Supreme Court, since it will be moot by that time.
It's New Mexico, why should we care?
Because, emergency orders are one of the methods used by the Left in New York State to restrict constitutional freedoms! If it succeeds in New Mexico, the New York State gun grabbers will be further encouraged.
Remember the SAFE Act? It was passed under an emergency ‘Message of Necessity’ that bypassed normal legislative rules. (It was such an emergency that some of it is just now being enacted 10 years later.)
Remember the COVID restrictions that were enacted as emergency procedures (and kept in place by Kathy Hochul long after the ‘emergency’ was over)?
Just claim ‘public health emergency’ and the unconstitutional actions of the left claim the high ground as necessary for the good of citizens - instead of being viewed as the power grabs that they are, in reality. And no one understands better what is good for citizens than the ‘Rich men north of Richmond’ (and northeast of Binghamton.)
If gun violence is a public health emergency, what’s to stop Democrats (or anyone in power) from declaring ‘climate change’ an emergency and taking unconstitutional steps? How about racism as an emergency? Or transgenderism?
And if these are emergencies, shouldn’t any comments against the government’s position be prohibited by temporarily suspending the 1st Amendment protected right of Free Speech? (Presidents John Adams and Woodrow Wilson enjoyed the benefits of ‘Sedition Acts’ to jail those who protested against their policies.)
Laws have been crafted to give the government the flexibility to deal with emergencies and we can ‘trust’ the left to abuse any flexibility in their pursuit of absolute power.
Not everything in New Mexico ends in 30 days and some of it should sound familiar to New York gun owners. The public health order also directs:
· The Regulation and Licensing Division to conduct monthly inspections of licensed firearm dealers to ensure compliance with all sales and storage laws.
· The Department of Health to compile and issue a comprehensive report on gunshot victims at hospitals in New Mexico.
· A prohibition on firearms on state property, including state buildings and schools. This also includes other places of education where children gather, such as parks.
Left unsaid is that this ignores the actual causes of violence. Legal gun owners are NOT contributing to these violent crimes. But those law-abiding gun owners who rely on their Second Amendment rights for self-defense are now defenseless.
In a press conference, Governor Grisham made some ‘interesting’ comments -straight from the Kathy Hochul guidebook - in defense of her actions.
A reporter asked: You took an oath to the Constitution. Isn’t it unconstitutional to say you cannot exercise your carry license?
Grisham replied: With one exception, and that is if there’s an emergency, and I’ve declared an emergency for a temporary amount of time, I can invoke additional powers. (I checked my pocket Constitution and, would you believe, there is NO statement to that effect in the Constitution.)
Grisham added: “…what about their (the victims) constitutional rights? I took an oath to uphold those, too.” (She obviously was not referring to the victim’s 2nd Amendment rights.)
And then Grisham added: No constitutional right, in my view, including my oath, is intended to be absolute. There are restrictions on free speech.
We have a ‘liberal triple’ there: she believes her view trumps the view of the Supreme Court of the United States; her oath of office about upholding the U S Constitution is NOT absolute; and guess what’s next in her sights – the 1st Amendment.
A reporter, who was obviously versed in 2nd Amendment, pointed out that, “There are already laws against the crime” and “Why not just do better law enforcement?” Then the reporter clinched it with this question: Madam Governor, do you really think that criminals are going to hear this message and not carry a gun in Albuquerque on the streets for 30 days?
Grisham replied in one word: “No.”
That one word says it all for gun grabbers everywhere; they are not after the criminals who cause crime but are intent on taking guns away from law abiding citizens.
If successful, why not go for 60 days? Or 90 days? Since the governor decides when the emergency ends, why should it end?
There are two possible unintended consequences which might prove beneficial to 2A supporters:
If a court decides that this is not moot at the end of the 30 day period, New Mexico could supply a judicial vehicle to curtail future anti 2A efforts by Democrat governors of Democrat states who believe they are above the U S Constitution. Of course, as evidenced by this emergency order, the gun grabbers tend to ignore the law when they are in a state run by Democrats.
Secondly, at some point, conservatives and others who believe in the Constitution, but are ‘conscientious objectors’ in the war on guns, may be pushed to the point where they are forced to do something drastic; like get involved and vote!
I know getting involved and voting is an extreme, drastic, unthinkable measure but the governors and legislators of blue states are attacking the 2nd Amendment from multiple approaches. And legalities will not stand in their way since they have bottomless taxpayer pockets to fund their efforts while the law-abiding victims have limited financial resources. The worst that can happen to the gun grabbers is that they return to ‘square one’ and try again.
What can happen to the ‘conscientious objectors’ is on that same day they were pushed too far, they will stand confused and ask, ’How did that happen?’
