Utah
Utah leaders react to N.M. governor’s order to ban carrying guns in Albuquerque
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SALT LAKE CITY — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s recent ban on carrying firearms in the state’s largest city has brought bipartisan condemnation from politicians, including two prominent Utah leaders who called the public health order unconstitutional.
Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, issued a 30-day suspension of the right to conceal or carry guns openly in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County on Thursday in an effort to reduce shootings.
She cited the recent deaths of a 13-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy in addition to two May mass shootings that occurred in the state. The boy was killed in a shooting outside of a minor league baseball stadium on Wednesday, according to Fox News.
“As I said yesterday, the time for standard measures has passed,” Lujan Grisham said Friday. “And when New Mexicans are afraid to be in crowds, to take their kids to school, to leave a baseball game — when their very right to exist is threatened by the prospect of violence at every turn — something is very wrong.”
California Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu shared news of the public health order on social media, saying that while he supports gun safety laws, Lujan Grisham’s actions were unconstitutional.
“No state in the union can suspend the federal Constitution. There is no such thing as a state public health emergency exception to the U.S. Constitution,” he said.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, reposted Lieu’s comments and said he’s in agreement.
“This is correct,” Cox said. “The New Mexico order is clearly unconstitutional and I appreciate a Democrat that is willing to push back.”
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, compared the order to totalitarian and socialist governments in a series of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying “’emergencies’ are vehicles that deliver tyranny.”
“The intolerant often want to use government to silence those who disagree with them,” he continued. “To that end, on occasion they identify an ’emergency’ that in their view somehow justifies the criminalization of non-criminal conduct — not just any such conduct, but conduct that is commonly engaged in by people who don’t agree with them. The action taken yesterday by the governor of New Mexico is an example of this approach.”
Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said he would not enforce the ban, calling it unconstitutional and saying it could spark political violence.