Two years ago, when New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency over violent crime in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, she also announced she was banning concealed carry in the state’s most populated area. That didn’t go over well, with local law enforcement objecting and a judge striking down that provision after Second Amendment groups sued.
The governor scaled back her order, limiting the carry ban to parks and playgrounds, but even that was ruled too broad by a judge, and there’s no sign that her edict was ever actually enforced against anyone with a valid carry permit.
Grisham let that “emergency” declaration expire last October, but now she’s declared a new emergency in the town of Española and surrounding Rio Arriba County. Though Grisham is once again pointing to high levels of violent crime (and a large number of drug overdoses) in her latest proclamation, this time around she hasn’t included a carry ban in her proclamation.
The governor’s proclamation authorizes about $750,000 in funding for local governments. While the executive order the governor signed Wednesday gives the state Adjutant General the authority to call on New Mexico National Guard members “to provide support to civil authorities as needed,” a spokesperson for the Governor’s Office said “there is no immediate order/move” to deploy guard members in the Northern New Mexico city.
… The executive order states a “surge in criminal activity and addiction” has placed “an extraordinary burden” on local governments in the area, especially local police departments, and notes it has affected Santa Clara Pueblo and Ohkay Owingeh.
A recent letter from Española Mayor Pro Tem Peggy Sue Martinez requesting help from the Governor’s Office noted reports of theft, violence, drug-related arrests and overdoses have risen sharply over the last two years and that 911 calls have more than doubled in the area.
Theoretically, the governor could have announced she was prohibiting concealed carry in playgrounds in Española and Rio Arriba County, which is the one portion of her earlier carry ban that the courts allowed to remain in place (though the lawsuits challenging the restrictions are still ongoing). The fact that she didn’t include any kind of limitation on concealed carry is pretty telling.
I don’t think the governor has had any sudden change of heart about the right to bear arms. If she thought that restricting concealed carry in any fashion would be a political winner for her, I have no doubt she would have included some type of carry ban in her proclamation. But after having her rear end handed to her by the courts amidst opposition from gun owners, Second Amendment advocates, law enforcement, and even some of her fellow Democrats over her previous attack on the right to carry, it looks like Lujan Grisham has learned a lesson: making it harder for people to protect themselves when she’s declared crime is out of control isn’t nearly as popular with the general public (or the judicial system) as it is with her red-shirted friends in the gun control lobby.
Even if Lujan Grisham made that decision out of political expediency instead of newfound respect for our Second Amendment rights, a win is a win. New Mexico gun owners should be heartened that their activism has had an impact, but they should be ready to keep up their pressure on lawmakers when the 2026 legislative session begins. This year Lujan Grisham was much more muted in her public statements about new gun laws, but still quietly worked hard to get a sweeping semi-auto ban to her desk. Though she wasn’t successful, I have no doubt she’ll try again next year, and Second Amendment advocates will once again have to stand up and speak out in defense of their fundamental right to keep and bear arms.
Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its anti-2A agenda.
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