New Mexico gun owners sent a peaceful but powerful message Sunday to Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham by openly carrying their firearms after Grisham placed a 30-day ban on their Second Amendment rights.
Grisham issued an emergency order banning all firearms from being carried in Albuquerque for 30 days, arguing there is a public health emergency. Both open carry and concealed carry were prohibited.
Dozens of peaceful New Mexicans were observed open carrying their firearms in protest, per video shared online by Ford Fischer. (RELATED: ‘Violates The US Constitution’: Liberals Slam New Mexico Gun Ban)
New Mexico gun owners rallied in Albuquerque today in open defiance of the New Mexico Governor’s order banning open and concealed carry of firearms there as a one-month “emergency.”
Police did not intervene or enforce the order. Footage by @FordFischer. pic.twitter.com/pWiBW2Y4zV
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) September 10, 2023
“All we want to do is protect our families, our friends, our communities, I’ve gone on two combat tours with the Marine Corps and fought on the front lines. I’ve done 11 trips as an independent contractor. She thinks she has the right to take away my freedom to protect my community, I don’t think so,” an unidentified speaker said to the crowd, which proudly donned American and Gadsden flags.
“This will not stand, we will not comply!”
“Look what the U.S. government did to the Native Americans, they tried to strip them of their rights. This is the same thing. Our Apachee brother resisted until the very end, the Navajos. We have to be the same, resilient!”
A woman who self-identified as an indigenous person then stood up to say that’s why she’s at the rally; the government does not protect her or her family. Other speakers then took to the stage to discuss the Second Amendment.
Police reportedly did not intervene or enforce the so-called public health order.
Grisham’s order has already been challenged, with resident Foster Haines and the National Association for Gun Rights launching a suit arguing the order is a violation of Second Amendment rights. The plaintiffs point to a recent Supreme Court decision which found New York’s concealed carry law was unconstitutional and instead must be based on historical tradition.