New Mexico Governor Lets Gun Ban Expire

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaks during the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 20, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Oct. 16 announced that she is letting a ban on firearms expire, about a year after it was first imposed.

Grisham issued an executive order in September 2023 banning guns at public places such as parks in Bernalillo County, which includes Albuquerque.

The order was later narrowed to apply only to parks and playgrounds.

“The public health order, though temporary, allowed us to implement urgent and necessary measures that have had a measurable, positive effect on public safety in our state,” Grisham said in a statement. “I have decided to allow the public health order to expire, but our fight to protect New Mexico communities from the dangers posed by guns and illegal drugs will continue.”

Other components of the order will remain in place through memorandums of understanding entered into between state officials and law enforcement agencies in Bernalillo County, according to the governor’s office. These memorandums allow for the sharing of safety data between agencies and aim to ensure transparency, Grisham’s office said.

Several groups supporting Second Amendment rights filed a lawsuit over the ban shortly after it was imposed, arguing that it was unconstitutional. A federal judge in 2023 blocked the original order but declined to block the narrowed version, saying that there had historically been some restrictions on guns in parks. Under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, officials restricting firearm usage must cite similar restrictions from the past.

The judge also said that playgrounds were sensitive places, which justices have said are exempted from the Second Amendment.

The groups appealed the Oct. 11, 2023, decision, saying the restrictions are “fundamentally incompatible with the Second Amendment because they are not supported by widespread, distinctly similar historical laws dating to the Founding era.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit heard oral arguments in the appeal in September but has yet to weigh in on the matter.

It’s unclear how Grisham’s letting the order expire will affect the case.

“We are hopeful the court will issue a ruling on the merits, and We The Patriots USA stands committed to [defending] the Second Amendment rights of New Mexicans and all Americans,” Brian Festa, vice president and co-founder of We the Patriots, one of the groups that brought the lawsuit, told The Epoch Times in an email.

The order is scheduled to expire on Oct. 19.

Grisham said that “significant strides were made in reducing gun violence” in New Mexico, including holding gun buyback events through which more than 1,700 firearms were bought and increasing gun-related arrests in Albuquerque.

“Our work is not done,” she said. “We need the legislature to pass stronger public safety laws, increase penalties for violent offenders, and ensure that those suffering from substance misuse have access to treatment. This is no time to slow down—we must accelerate our efforts to protect our families.”