Lawmakers Officially Calling for Impeachment of New Mexico Governor Over Suspension of Gun Rights
Two Republican New Mexico lawmakers are calling for the impeachment of Michelle Lujan Grisham over her public health emergency order that seeks to revoke the ability of legal gun owners to carry their weapons in and around Albuquerque.
On Friday, Lujan Grisham issued a public health emergency order that banned legal gun owners from carrying weapons in and around Albuquerque due to recent shootings. X, previously known as Twitter, boss Elon Musk asked whether she should be impeached, a sentiment with which two state lawmakers agreed.
“This is an abhorrent attempt at imposing a radical progressive agenda on an unwilling populous. Rather than addressing crime at its core, Governor Grisham is restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners,” Republican state Rep. Stefani Lord posted on X.
“Even Grisham believes this emergency order won’t prohibit criminals from carrying or using weapons; a basic admission that this will only put New Mexicans in danger as they won’t be able to defend themselves from violent crime,” she wrote in a release posted there.
🚨PRESS RELEASE: @RepBlock & I are calling for the impeachment of @GovMLG. New Mexicans won’t stand by as she disregards her oath to uphold our Constitution.
Read the full press release below! 👇 pic.twitter.com/r5kt9nOSvI
— Rep Stefani Lord (@Lord4NM) September 9, 2023
“This emergency order violates the Governor’s oath to protect and defend the rights of New Mexicans and is illegal in nature,” she wrote.
“The legislature has a duty to intervene when the government is overstepping boundaries, and Governor Grisham’s order and comments disqualify her from continuing her tenure as governor,” she said.
Republican state Rep. John Block, who supported Lord’s impeachment call, said he wants Lujan Grisham to step down or face impeachment.
“We sponsored the anti-crime bills to fix our state and voted for them in committee while your left-wing extremist radical allies voted against punishing criminals — leading to civilians and law enforcement being brutally murdered in our streets, including in my district,” Block wrote on X.
“Then, you sign an order so unconstitutional even you said you know criminals won’t follow it and that it won’t hold up in court. Then, you claim your oath and the Constitution are not ‘absolute’ and can be suspended at your beck and call. You and your acolytes alone have blood on your hands. Resign or be impeached,” he wrote.
We sponsored the anti-crime bills to fix our state and voted for them in committee while your left-wing extremist radical allies voted against punishing criminals — leading to civilians and law enforcement being brutally murdered in our streets, including in my district. Then,… https://t.co/vqBzfrFRrO
— Rep. John Block (@RepBlock) September 10, 2023
The two lawmakers told KRQE-TV that they would not be idle as the Constitution was violated.
“We made an oath, which is a promise that we swear that we’re going to uphold the Constitution, the rights of New Mexicans, and she threw that right out the window,” Lord said, adding, “I was completely shocked and taken by surprise that she would do such a gross overreach and completely violate the Constitution.”
Block said Lujan-Grisham “called for open season on law-abiding citizens by subverting the state and federal constitutions and laws of our state, and that’s something that needs to be remedied immediately.”
Legal scholar and George Washington University professor John Turley heaped disdain upon the order.
“The order, in my view, is flagrantly unconstitutional under existing Second Amendment precedent. It could also be a calculated effort to evade a ruling by making the period of suspension so short that it becomes moot before any final decision is reached by a court,” he wrote on his website.
Turley also noted a disturbing trend of which the order is a part.
The order, in my view, is flagrantly unconstitutional under existing Second Amendment precedent. It could also be a calculated effort to evade a ruling by making the period of suspension so short…https://t.co/aURAa8Ict9
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) September 9, 2023
“Democratic leaders have increasingly turned to a claim used successfully during the pandemic in declaring a health emergency to maximize unilateral authority of governors. There have also been calls to declare racism a public health emergency, supported by groups like the American Public Health Association,” he wrote.
“Transgender programs have also been declared a public health emergency by some groups. The motivation behind many of these calls is not to negate constitutional rights, but the question is whether such declarations allow governors discretion to suspend or curtail individual rights.”
“As the list of claimed health emergencies grow, even state Democratic judges may begin to balk at the obvious end run around constitutional rights,” he wrote.
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