New Mexico suspends open and concealed firearm laws in Albuquerque: ‘The time for standard measures has passed’

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “The time for standard measures has passed,” Democratic governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement announcing the emergency order on 8 September. Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said he is “wary of placing my deputies in positions that could lead to civil liability conflicts, as well as the potential risks posed by prohibiting law-abiding citizens from their constitutional right to self-defense.” Echoing statements from other Second Amendment and firearms groups opposed to reform measures, New Mexico’s top-ranked Republican state Senator Greg Baca accused the governor of targeting “law-abiding citizens with an unconstitutional gun order”. New Mexico’s House Republican leader Ryan Lane accused the governor of invoking the 11-year-old’s death to pursue an “anti-gun agenda” that is “literally killing New Mexicans daily”. “But I have to take a tough direct stand, or basically I’m just ignoring the fact that we lost an 11-year-old, another child.” Over the last few years, the governor has signed several pieces of legislation to restrict gun access, including a 2020 “red flag” law allowing law enforcement agencies to ask courts to temporarily remove firearms from people who could be a danger to themselves or others.