New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday issued an emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque and the surrounding county for at least 30 days in response to a spate of gun violence.
The Democratic governor said she expects legal challenges, but was compelled to act because of recent shootings, including the death of an 11-year-old boy outside a minor league baseball stadium this week.
Lujan Grisham said that state police would be responsible for enforcing what amount to civil contraventions.
Photo: AP
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said he would not enforce it, and Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said he was uneasy about it because it raises too many questions about constitutional rights.
The firearms suspension, classified as an emergency public health order, applies to open and concealed carry in most public places, from city sidewalks to urban recreational parks. The restriction is tied to a threshold for violent crime rates currently only met by metropolitan Albuquerque. Police and licensed security guards are exempt from the temporary ban.
Contraveners could face civil penalties and a fine of up to US$5,000, gubernatorial spokeswoman Caroline Sweeney said.
Under the order, residents still can transport guns to some private locations, such as a gun range or gun store, provided the firearm has a trigger lock or some other container or mechanism making it impossible to discharge.
Lujan Grisham said that not all law enforcement officials were on board with her decision.
“I welcome the debate and fight about how to make New Mexicans safer,” she told a news conference, flanked by law enforcement officials, including the district attorney for the Albuquerque area.
Lujan Grisham referenced several recent shootings in Albuquerque in issuing the order. Among them was a suspected road rage shooting on Wednesday outside a minor league baseball stadium that killed 11-year-old Froyland Villegas and critically wounded a woman as their vehicle was peppered with bullets while people left the game.
Last month, five-year-old Galilea Samaniego was fatally shot while asleep in a motor home. Four teens entered the mobile home community in two stolen vehicles early on Aug. 13 and opened fire on the trailer, police said. The girl was struck in the head and later died at a hospital.
“When New Mexicans are afraid to be in crowds, to take their kids to school, to leave a baseball game — when their very right to exist is threatened by the prospect of violence at every turn — something is very wrong,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement.
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