‘Violates The US Constitution’: Liberals Slam New Mexico Gun Ban

Two prominent liberals ripped New Mexico’s Friday public health decree temporarily banning non-law enforcement personnel from carrying firearms.

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California and David Hogg, a Parkland shooting survivor and prominent gun control advocate, took to Twitter to criticize the public health order. On Friday, Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham enacted the order, which bans individuals from carrying firearms in certain areas of the state for 30 days regardless of their permit status.

“I support gun safety laws,” Lieu wrote, referencing his prior support for gun control legislation. “However, this order from the Governor of New Mexico violates the U.S. Constitution. No state in the union can suspend the federal Constitution,” he continued, adding that “there is no such thing as a state public health emergency exception to the U.S. Constitution.”

Hogg, who himself survived a mass shooting in 2017, agreed with Lieu’s take. “I support gun safety but there is no such thing as a state public health emergency exception to the U.S. Constitution,” he wrote.

After the Parkland High School mass shooting in 2017, Hogg became a leading activist for gun control reform in the U.S., helping to organize the March for Our Lives in March 2018, according to the March for Our Lives website.

The order states that “no person, other than a law enforcement officer or licensed security officer, shall possess a firearm … either openly or concealed, within cities or counties averaging 1,000 or more violent crimes per 100,000 residents per year since 2021.” The public health decree applies to Albuquerque, the state’s largest city, and Bernalillo County, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Lieu and Hogg join a chorus of legal pundits and officials who have questioned the constitutionality of the Grisham administration’s declaration that gun violence is a public health emergency.

“There are literally too many people to arrest,” Grisham said in response to a reporter’s question during a press conference announcing the order. “If there’s an emergency, and I’ve declared an emergency for a temporary amount of time, I can invoke additional powers. No constitutional right, in my view, including my oath, is intended to be absolute.”

Grisham’s office did not respond immediately to a request for comment.