Gun owners organized a protest in defiance of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s (D) suspension of open and concealed carry laws.
Sunday afternoon saw scores of gun rights activists assemble in Old Town Albuquerque to express their discontent with Grisham’s 30-day suspension of open and concealed carry laws within the city of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.
Many of the demonstrators openly carried firearms in a deliberate challenge to Grisham’s order.
Protesters prominently waved American, Gadsden and “Come and Take It” flags. One man held a sign directed at Grisham, reading, “Our founding fathers warned us about you.” Another woman displayed a sign proclaiming, “Gun rights are women’s rights.”
One participant declared, “This will not stand. We will not comply!”
A woman, self-identifying as indigenous, addressed the crowd, stating, “The law doesn’t protect us!”
Another woman expressed, “Our rights are bestowed by God, while our privileges are granted by the government.”
Ford Fischer, the editor-in-chief of News2Share, uploaded footage of the protest to YouTube.
Fischer commented, “One speaker at the armed rally in Albuquerque defying the gun-carrying ban told the crowd that they need to go out and do this every day, or else it wouldn’t have an impact.”
He said, “While the police didn’t enforce the order, it includes a $5000 fine for violators.”
Grisham is seeking to rationalize the suspension of gun rights by invoking a public health emergency due to recent gun violence.
Over the weekend, the National Association for Gun Rights initiated a lawsuit against Grisham and New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Patrick Allen, challenging the emergency public health order that suspended gun rights.
Even gun control advocates calling New Mexico Governor’s gun ban unconstitutional https://t.co/uHuFuW60Lo
— Sean Hannity 🇺🇸 (@seanhannity) September 11, 2023
The lawsuit, submitted in the U.S. District Court for New Mexico, contends that the governor’s directive infringes upon the Second Amendment.
Additionally, on Saturday, a separate lawsuit was filed to challenge the temporary health order that prohibits openly carrying guns in public areas. This lawsuit draws parallels between the suspension of open and concealed carry regulations and “martial law,” asserting that it constitutes a violation of constitutional rights.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) strongly criticized the self-described emergency public health order, stating that Grisham is exploiting the order to unilaterally encroach upon Second Amendment rights.
