U.S. judge freezes New Mexico governor’s gun ban. After Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s decree sparked the U.S. gun-rights debate, a federal court temporarily suspended a ban on carrying weapons in New Mexico’s biggest city on Wednesday.
U.S. District Court Judge David Urias stated the governor’s 30-day suspension of concealed and open weapon carry privileges in Albuquerque, and its surrounding county violated a historic Supreme Court case that allowed self-defense outside the house.
“They just want the right to carry their guns,” Urias, nominated by President Joe Biden, said of plaintiffs seeking a temporary restraining order on Lujan Grisham’s Sept. 8 emergency public health order.
The Democratic governor suspended weapon carry regulations to give police a “cooling-off period” to address the state’s high gun crime rates after three youngsters were shot dead in recent weeks.
After Urias’s judgment, Lujan Grisham remarked, “Over the past four days, I’ve seen more attention on resolving the gun violence crisis than I have in the past four years.”
Her action angered gun-rights supporters and was criticized as unlawful by Democrats and law police.
“Governor Grisham’s tyranny is temporarily in check today,” said Colorado gun group president Dudley Brown.
Gun control advocates hailed Lujan Grisham’s “courage,” and Santa Fe’s Catholic Archbishop worried that gun rights were being prioritized above the life of an 11-year-old kid slain in an Albuquerque road rage incident last week.
After the gun prohibition, Albuquerque’s mayor and Bernalillo County’s sheriff called for a special legislative session to address gun violence.
Mayor Tim Keller said he required legislation to address a dysfunctional criminal justice system, restrict assault weapons, and offer addiction and mental health care.
“Albuquerque families can’t afford political debates that distract us from fighting violent crime,” Keller wrote the governor on Tuesday.
Gun violence prevention nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety estimates that 500 people die by gun in New Mexico each year, ranking sixth in the nation. FBI violent crime statistics rank Albuquerque among the ten most hazardous U.S. cities.
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