Real pushback: Defiance from all sides to New Mexico’s unlawful suspension of the 2nd amendment
When New Mexico’s Democratic Party governor Michelle Lujan Grisham suddenly declared on September 8, 2023 that she was unilaterally suspending the second amendment by outlawing for 30 days the right to carry firearms by any citizens in Albuquerque and its surrounding Bernalillo county, no one should have been surprised.
All Grisham was doing was following the many precedents set during the COVID epidemic, where nationwide governors routinely made unilateral and unlawful declarations violating the Constitutional rights of citizens, with no pushback at all. Grisham was merely following those precedents. To her, it was now okay for a governor to routinely declare a “health emergency” for any reason under the sun (in this case the violent shooting death of an innocent eleven-year-old boy), and declare any law she didn’t like to be null and void.
Grisham was simply demonstrating forcefully the worst lessons learned from the COVID panic. It taught power-hungry politicians that they could get away with any abuse of power they conceived, as long as they dressed that power grab as part of some sort of “health emergency.”
You see, power is very habit-forming, and when you find you suffer no pain for abusing it it is then very easy to abuse it again, and again and again.
The response to Grisham’s unlawful abuse of power however suggested strongly that things are no longer going to follow the script of the COVID panic, when the public meekly went along. Instead, the uproar in the past three days has been astonishing, not so much from the ordinary citizens defying the ban, but from politicians and pundits from across the entire political spectrum.
On the right, the opposition to Grisham’s declaration has been forceful and expected. Immediately four different lawsuits were filed from two gun rights organizations (complaints here and here [pdfs]), a conservative group (complaint here [pdf]), and an individual lawyer in New Mexico (complaint here [pdf]). All noted the unconstitutional nature of Grisham’s order, as well as how it also violated written law in New Mexico.
At the same time, two Republicans in the state legislature immediately called for Grisham’s impeachment, with other Republicans condemning her actions. Normally Republicans merely whine loudly about such illegal actions by Democrats, but rarely call for any real action. The call for impeachment, immediately, is more striking, since both legislators said they “can and will force a vote on this.”
Since the Democrats control both houses of the legislature with large majorities, we would normally expect these calls go nowhere. More on that later however.
There were also public demonstrations in New Mexico, with hundreds of citizens showing carrying guns and rifles openly, declaring loudly “This will not stand! We will not comply!”
These protests and lawsuits from the right were all to be expected. What was not expected was the immediately and forceful defiance and protests from the left. First the district attorney of Bernalillo County, the mayor of Albuquerque, as well as the city’s police chief immediately declared the next day that they will not enforce Grisham’s edict. Considering their strong Democratic Party political roots, this declaration was somewhat shocking:
Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, who once served as a Democratic party leader and was appointed by Lujan Grisham, on Saturday joined Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and Police Chief Harold Medina saying they wouldn’t enforce the order. “As an officer of the court, I cannot and will not enforce something that is clearly unconstitutional,” said Bregman, the top prosecutor in the Albuquerque area. “This office will continue to focus on criminals of any age that use guns in the commission of a crime.”
The Democratic Party sheriff of Bernallilo County, John Allen, quickly added his strong opposition, calling for a special legislative session to cancel the order.
“While I understand and appreciate the urgency, the temporary ban challenges the foundation of our constitution, which I swore an oath to uphold,” Allen said. “I am wary of placing my deputies in positions that could lead to civil liability conflicts, as well as the potential risks posed by prohibiting law-abiding citizens from their constitutional right to self-defense.”
That’s the heads of two police departments, the district attorney, and the mayor, all Democrats, all immediately declaring their opposition. Their action essentially nullified Grisham’s unlawful declaration. More important, Allen’s demand for a special legislative session to overrule Grisham suggested that the Republican calls for impeachment might carry weight with Democrats. We might actually see some action by both parties in this matter.
Nor were these the only protests from Democrats. Shockingly, radical leftists and gun control advocates David Hogg and Congressman Ted Lieu (D-California) both declared their strong opposition to Grisham’s edict. As Lieu noted,
I support gun safety laws. However, this order from the Governor of New Mexico violates the U.S. Constitution. No state in the union can suspend the federal Constitution. There is no such thing as a state public health emergency exception to the U.S. Constitution.
“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all
the inhabitants thereof.” Photo credit: William Zhang
It is this uproar from unexpected directions that suggests strongly that the short era of unopposed unilateral power by government officials that began with the Wuhan panic might finally be ending. Politicians from both sides of the aisle are starting to recognize that the public has had enough. The cry “We will not comply!” is becoming very loud, and is being heard in many different venues, from this unlawful act in New Mexico to school boards to corporate offices nationwide.
Grisham herself is now discovering this outcry, and might likely be the first to fall before it.
Or to put it in a way that those who lust for power might better understand: Abuse your position and you will lose all the power you presently have. COVID was a very temporary situation, and the illegal acts that were accepted then are no longer being accepted.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
When New Mexico’s Democratic Party governor Michelle Lujan Grisham suddenly declared on September 8, 2023 that she was unilaterally suspending the second amendment by outlawing for 30 days the right to carry firearms by any citizens in Albuquerque and its surrounding Bernalillo county, no one should have been surprised.
All Grisham was doing was following the many precedents set during the COVID epidemic, where nationwide governors routinely made unilateral and unlawful declarations violating the Constitutional rights of citizens, with no pushback at all. Grisham was merely following those precedents. To her, it was now okay for a governor to routinely declare a “health emergency” for any reason under the sun (in this case the violent shooting death of an innocent eleven-year-old boy), and declare any law she didn’t like to be null and void.
Grisham was simply demonstrating forcefully the worst lessons learned from the COVID panic. It taught power-hungry politicians that they could get away with any abuse of power they conceived, as long as they dressed that power grab as part of some sort of “health emergency.”
You see, power is very habit-forming, and when you find you suffer no pain for abusing it it is then very easy to abuse it again, and again and again.
The response to Grisham’s unlawful abuse of power however suggested strongly that things are no longer going to follow the script of the COVID panic, when the public meekly went along. Instead, the uproar in the past three days has been astonishing, not so much from the ordinary citizens defying the ban, but from politicians and pundits from across the entire political spectrum.
On the right, the opposition to Grisham’s declaration has been forceful and expected. Immediately four different lawsuits were filed from two gun rights organizations (complaints here and here [pdfs]), a conservative group (complaint here [pdf]), and an individual lawyer in New Mexico (complaint here [pdf]). All noted the unconstitutional nature of Grisham’s order, as well as how it also violated written law in New Mexico.
At the same time, two Republicans in the state legislature immediately called for Grisham’s impeachment, with other Republicans condemning her actions. Normally Republicans merely whine loudly about such illegal actions by Democrats, but rarely call for any real action. The call for impeachment, immediately, is more striking, since both legislators said they “can and will force a vote on this.”
Since the Democrats control both houses of the legislature with large majorities, we would normally expect these calls go nowhere. More on that later however.
There were also public demonstrations in New Mexico, with hundreds of citizens showing carrying guns and rifles openly, declaring loudly “This will not stand! We will not comply!”
These protests and lawsuits from the right were all to be expected. What was not expected was the immediately and forceful defiance and protests from the left. First the district attorney of Bernalillo County, the mayor of Albuquerque, as well as the city’s police chief immediately declared the next day that they will not enforce Grisham’s edict. Considering their strong Democratic Party political roots, this declaration was somewhat shocking:
Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, who once served as a Democratic party leader and was appointed by Lujan Grisham, on Saturday joined Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and Police Chief Harold Medina saying they wouldn’t enforce the order. “As an officer of the court, I cannot and will not enforce something that is clearly unconstitutional,” said Bregman, the top prosecutor in the Albuquerque area. “This office will continue to focus on criminals of any age that use guns in the commission of a crime.”
The Democratic Party sheriff of Bernallilo County, John Allen, quickly added his strong opposition, calling for a special legislative session to cancel the order.
“While I understand and appreciate the urgency, the temporary ban challenges the foundation of our constitution, which I swore an oath to uphold,” Allen said. “I am wary of placing my deputies in positions that could lead to civil liability conflicts, as well as the potential risks posed by prohibiting law-abiding citizens from their constitutional right to self-defense.”
That’s the heads of two police departments, the district attorney, and the mayor, all Democrats, all immediately declaring their opposition. Their action essentially nullified Grisham’s unlawful declaration. More important, Allen’s demand for a special legislative session to overrule Grisham suggested that the Republican calls for impeachment might carry weight with Democrats. We might actually see some action by both parties in this matter.
Nor were these the only protests from Democrats. Shockingly, radical leftists and gun control advocates David Hogg and Congressman Ted Lieu (D-California) both declared their strong opposition to Grisham’s edict. As Lieu noted,
I support gun safety laws. However, this order from the Governor of New Mexico violates the U.S. Constitution. No state in the union can suspend the federal Constitution. There is no such thing as a state public health emergency exception to the U.S. Constitution.
“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all
the inhabitants thereof.” Photo credit: William Zhang
It is this uproar from unexpected directions that suggests strongly that the short era of unopposed unilateral power by government officials that began with the Wuhan panic might finally be ending. Politicians from both sides of the aisle are starting to recognize that the public has had enough. The cry “We will not comply!” is becoming very loud, and is being heard in many different venues, from this unlawful act in New Mexico to school boards to corporate offices nationwide.
Grisham herself is now discovering this outcry, and might likely be the first to fall before it.
Or to put it in a way that those who lust for power might better understand: Abuse your position and you will lose all the power you presently have. COVID was a very temporary situation, and the illegal acts that were accepted then are no longer being accepted.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
[ctrl-F “tyrant”]
The classical definition of “tyrant” is, I recall from my classical semieducation, a leader who has seized powers beyond her unconstitutional authority and then appealed to the mob to protect her seizure.
Here is the tyrant Grisham’s statement still on X (more like, “on crank” amirite):
“ To my fellow citizens: get loud. Step up. Demand change: from your neighbors, from your friends, from your communities, from your elected leaders. “
But Public Safety is Everything:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_Public_Safety
Related, its ALL related:
“During the very convenient Covid / get your experimental mRNA shot 2020 presidential election fear cycle, Joe Biden famously “campaigned” from his basement. You remember, he also played live to 17 people at a time who were isolated in white circles in parking lots and gymnasiums. And he of course won the election with a whopping 81 million votes and 306 electoral votes.”
https://www.sigma3ioc.com/post/on-9-11-will-the-basement-strategy-work-again
It is possible that the reaction of the police has more to do with the elimination of qualified immunity for the police in New Mexico two years ago than any serious concern for the legality of the governor’s decree.
https://www.axios.com/2021/04/07/new-mexico-qualified-immunity-police-repeal
The Bernalillo County Sheriff – ” I am wary of placing my deputies in positions that could lead to civil liability conflicts, as well as the potential risks posed by prohibiting law-abiding citizens from their constitutional right to self-defense.”
https://twitter.com/BCSONM/status/1700326536266875221
The likes of Hogg and Lieu never said the order is bad, only that the Constitution prohibits it. The actual narrative is that we’ve got to do away with this constitutional limit on our power to solve this public health emergency. As soon as the order expires the media will be amplifying any gun violence they can find in NM. Bet on it.
If we had a federal government interested in its actual primary mission (the protection of the rights of the citizens) she and her minions would be immediately arrested and jailed for violation of US Code 18 Section 241, and then tried and subsequently convicted under it, which states:
“If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or
If two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured—
They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.”
The governor, anyone on her staff that assisted in the preparation or promulgation of the “executive order” would be subject to this conspiracy charge. If any law enforcement personnel arrested and jailed someone under this ukase, this could then be considered kidnapping under the Code, which brings about the possibility of the death penalty.
I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for the partisan hacks of the DoJ to do…well, anything about it.
“If we had a federal government interested in its actual primary mission (the protection of the rights of the citizens)”
The primary mission of government is to govern, not to tell the truth to or “protect the rights of the citizens”.
No, the government is an ever and always threat to the Rights of the citizens. Thus, the intent of the Constitution is to attempt to counterbalance the nature of government which is to incrementally confiscate the Rights of the citizens over time. An eternal and ever-encroaching nature to confiscate the Rights of the citizens.
It is the Constitution that precedes and structures the government in the attempt to counter what we are all witness to being done by the Democrat party machine and those within government, law, justice and the courts who are now Subjectively abusing their collective power in an attempt to secure that Subjective power forever. And that is the nature of the beast.
The Constitution attempts to tame the beast government which it structures, kind of like Dr. Frankenstein and his monster that he structured. And how did that work pout?
What is the nature of such things as government, this particular government?: https://www.sigma3ioc.com/post/informing-minds-make-sure-you-read-this-too
If you think that New Mexico Governor Grisham is a little extreme in her attempt to suspend the second amendment, check out New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed plan to establish isolation and quarantine camps in her state.
https://www.americaoutloud.news/new-york-state-bringing-in-isolation-and-quarantine-camps-one-brave-attorney-stands-in-their-way/
Quoting attorney Bobbie Ann Cox in this post:
“[The Governor’s plan would have] allowed the Department of Health to pick and choose which New Yorkers they could lock up or lock down, with no proof that you were ever even exposed to, let alone actually sick with, a communicable disease. They could have locked you down in your home, or they could have removed you from your home and forced you to quarantine in a facility of their choosing.
There was no time restriction, so you could have been quarantined for however long they required – days, weeks, months. There was no age restriction, so they could have done this to you, to your child, to your grandchild, etc. In the true fashion of a totalitarian regime, they could have told you what you could and could not do while in quarantine. They literally could have controlled your every move.
The regulation allowed them to use law enforcement to enforce their orders of isolation or quarantine, which means you could have received a knock at the door from your local police or sheriff telling you that you had to go with them… by order of the Health Department.”
Nice.
The problem is, THESE PEOPLE NEVER GIVE UP and, as the saying goes, “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet” in terms of their continuing attempts to overturn the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and to establish a Chinese Communist style one party dictatorship in this country.
Happily, a lot of ordinary Americans are beginning to fight back against this attempt to destroy their traditional form of government, but — sadly — many Republicans still see “nothing wrong” with any of this and wonder why it is so upsetting to some people. Just ask Mitch McConnell.
PS — Per the response of the Republican leadership, please read and think about this:
https://joehoft.com/rnc-doesnt-care-about-stolen-elections-willing-to-have-2024-stolen/
After Donald Trump’s defeat by such tactics in 2020, the best that most Republican officials can do is to lamely suggest, like Sean Hannity, that Republicans ought to *beat them at their own crooked game* by mailing in more votes and out ballot harvesting the Ds!
These people are truly the “dimmer animals” that Orwell was writhing about, yet we are looking to them to “save” us from the radical Jacobins on the left.
Milt: Good stuff.
The county sheriff and the DA were both on stage with Governor Grisham when she made her announcement. They both made rather mild statements in opposition the next day when queried, and now they’re coming out breathing fire. The sheriff is now claiming that he had not been fully briefed on the order that Grisham was going to give and was blind-sided at the announcement.
I think the true cause for their sudden shift in stance is that they realized that the public is not going to comply, and lawyers will descend en masse to help the first person that gets arrested, and they, personally, will be named in the lawsuits and will be liable and will not get qualified immunity.
It’s funny. The left simply cannot stop letting that cat out of the bag. Given even the most remote chance to disarm legal civilians they will do it instantly leaving only the criminals with guns. They all treat it as a game that some day they’ll get away with if they just persist.
Grisham should be impeached, tried, convicted and removed from office. She should then be sued personally for her actions by anyone who was harmed by them in the slightest. The final outcome should be her utter disgrace and bankruptcy. THAT is what needs to happen to make sure the next government official who considers abrogating the Constitution decides against it.
the illegal acts that were accepted then
But I’ve been reliably informed by “Milhouse” over on Legal Insurrection that a governor declaring the Constitution null and void is not illegal at all, and the only people under the law who would/should suffer are those who put it into action. (Yeah, he’s a pedant.)
John Fisher
September 11, 2023 at 2:42 pm
It is possible that the reaction of the police has more to do with the elimination of qualified immunity for the police in New Mexico two years ago than any serious concern for the legality of the governor’s decree.
Oh, definitely. The ramp up in resistance by the Albuquerque PD and the sheriff is likely because someone reminded them 1) that law passed, and 2) you can actually have a valid self-defense claim for shooting a LEO, if the LEO was not within the bounds of the law in applying force to you, and they didn’t want any of their deputies getting shot legally.
Cotour
September 11, 2023 at 6:15 pm
The primary mission of government is to govern
Yes, kinda. Within its governance, the gov’t has TWO primary duties: justice and protection from outside invasion. Most everything else derives from the first one listed: Justice. And part of Justice – because it’s in our Constitution – is protecting the rights of the people against infringement by subordinate gov’ts, and its own self. (Of course, the People, being the actual legitimate authority in our country, have to actually enforce the protection of their rights against the national gov’t.)
mac
September 12, 2023 at 5:38 am
Grisham should be impeached, tried, convicted and removed from office.
“Should” and “will” are way too far apart in that state.
Of course, I’m wanting to see a Republican propose that obviously NM no longer has a republican form of gov’t and the gov’t should therefore be removed entirely. THAT one is written directly into the Constitution (Article IV, Section 4).
My brother lives in NM and he has no use for their so called Gov he says she is a total idiot have not talked to him about the newest gun ban she has came up with but its scary what she is trying to do but thanks be to God the people are not going to take it .The heck of it is we live in the next door state with a dem/communist Gov that is just as big a second amendment hater as she is and I am sure they are watching this to see how far she goes and how much she gets by with. Hopefully they will impeach her but I will not hold my breath.
“Yes, kinda. Within its governance, the gov’t has TWO primary duties: justice and protection from outside invasion. ”
No, governance is about power and the exercise and control of power. The Constitution which structures governance and precedes government is concerned with justice and the people’s Rights.
And as you can clearly detect with your own eye’s governance can either take or leave outside invasion as an option depending on whether it is perceived as a benefit to their political power and control over governance or not, it is optional.
So again, we are back to the Constitution and exactly what it attempts to structure and what it is primarily concerned with. And that is the attempt at counter balancing government and its nature regarding the abuse of power.
GET COMFY, WE HAVE TO HAVE A TALK
“One of my readers responded to my story panel from the other day “WILL THE BASEMENT STRATGEY WORK AGAIN?”. And their response was “Crazy, LOL”.”
“And this was my response to them: “Not crazy, mostly all planned, and it is focused on eliminating America from the leading position in the world. The Globalist wet dream cannot take place if America remains dominant.”
Make sure you read the rest of this.
https://www.sigma3ioc.com/post/sit-down-get-comfy-we-have-to-have-a-talk
GWB: Some supporting evidence regarding Subjective governance and what the Constitution structures and protects.
“Uh, uh, in this situation, I don’t think so, but that is what’s happening in this country,” Grisham said, trying to defend her declaration by saying in her case, she’s “protecting everyone’s rights” whereas the hypothetical Republican governor is “restricting some rights.”
Do you see what the real governor of New Mexico does with a hypothetical where she is in reality abridging every law-abiding individuals Rights, and that is OK. But if some other governor who is not as righteous (and of the same party) as she does the same, it is different.
https://dailycaller.com/2023/09/12/poppy-harlow-michelle-lujan-grisham-guns-second-amendment/
Even CNN can no longer not see what is what. And that is a big deal.
Milt wrote: “After Donald Trump’s defeat by such tactics in 2020, the best that most Republican officials can do is to lamely suggest, like Sean Hannity, that Republicans ought to *beat them at their own crooked game* by mailing in more votes and out ballot harvesting the Ds!
“These people are truly the ‘dimmer animals’ that Orwell was writhing about, yet we are looking to them to “save” us from the radical Jacobins on the left.”
Correct, and well said. The last thing that we want the party of law and order to do is descend into the same criminal mindset as the Democrats. It looks to me as though the party founded specifically to end slavery has lost its way and now is unwilling to defend our constitutionally protected rights. Deviating from the Constitution is the Democrats’ game, and by playing, we lose, because the end goal is to get everyone playing the Anti-American Anti-Costitution game.
mac wrote: “Grisham should be impeached, tried, convicted and removed from office. She should then be sued personally for her actions by anyone who was harmed by them in the slightest. The final outcome should be her utter disgrace and bankruptcy. THAT is what needs to happen to make sure the next government official who considers abrogating the Constitution decides against it.”
These are the kinds of things that the Republican Party should be doing to protect our rights. It is what we hired them to do.
GWB wrote: “ Of course, I’m wanting to see a Republican propose that obviously NM no longer has a republican form of gov’t and the gov’t should therefore be removed entirely. THAT one is written directly into the Constitution (Article IV, Section 4).”
Dictating law through the use of faux declarations of emergency is not a republican form of government. It is at best a dictatorship and most likely a tyranny. In this case a tyranny, as the governor is oppressively denying her people’s natural rights. There is no emergency that would be solved by a temporary infringement of our rights. In fact, there is no emergency, just the commission of a standard, run of the mill crime.
It looks to me as though the failure of the Republican Party means that we need a new party whose purpose is to aggressively defend We the People’s government and allow us to run it properly: to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” The Democratic Party has become a domestic enemy. This move would have been unthinkable during Clinton’s presidency or either of the Bushes. Now, America has changed so drastically and fundamentally that it is a move that an actual governor believes she can do.
Welcome to Obama’s fundamentally transformed America, land of the formerly free.
Judge Napolitano – Judging Freedom:
“2nd Amendment Threat – New Mexico Gov is a Tyrant”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIptpU8UlUw