Staff Reports
In a bold move, New Mexico's Democratic governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, has banned carrying guns in public for 30 days in the Albuquerque area. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who are both running for president as Republicans, are upset about this ruling. Both DeSantis and Ramaswamy have strongly criticized Grisham's action as a violation of the Constitution's Second Amendment, which says that people have the right to carry guns.
GOP presidential candidates slam New Mexico governor's gun carry ban | Washington Examiner https://t.co/JyR8C6Kl3r
— 18 5.0 Mustang (@1850Mustang2) September 10, 2023
Gov. DeSantis didn't spend any time in saying that Grisham's order was wrong, since he says he defends civil liberties and Constitutional rights. He said that she was using a public health issue as an excuse to limit people's rights, and he promised that if he were elected president, he would never go against the Second Amendment. DeSantis also said that he didn't like how "public health" has been used as an excuse to take away people's rights. He said that this kind of overreach would stop under his guidance. He sent his message through a post on X (which used to be called Twitter), so that his followers would know where he stood.
Just a few months after ending the COVID “public health emergency,” the Governor of New Mexico has declared a new “public health emergency”: Guns. She is now asserting the power to infringe on Second Amendment rights by executive fiat.
This assertion is not surprising — since… https://t.co/gQf0EiPkcE
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) September 9, 2023
The 2nd amendment isn’t a recommendation. It’s a right.
Friendly suggestion to @GovMLG on how to *actually* reduce violent crime in your state: focus on sealing your own state’s southern border & stop the virtue signaling elsewhere. https://t.co/RgzpFZAPs8
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) September 9, 2023
Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur, agreed with DeSantis and reminded Gov. Grisham that the Second Amendment is not just a suggestion, but a right that can't be taken away. Ramaswamy used the chance to give Grisham some tips on how to really reduce violent crime in her state: focus on securing the border with Mexico. By criticizing Grisham's "virtue signaling" method, Ramaswamy wanted to show that the real way to stop crime is to deal with its causes.
Grisham's move to call gun violence a public health emergency is likely to be challenged in court, as she herself said at a press conference. People who don't follow the new rules could be fined up to $5,000 if they don't follow the ban. But people with carry permits can still bring their guns to certain places, like gun ranges or shops, as long as the guns have safety features that keep them from going off.
Because of this controversial executive action, it is clear that the Second Amendment and its role in protecting individual freedoms are still being hotly debated. Conservatives like DeSantis and Ramaswamy think that this right must be defended at all costs, even when there are public health emergencies. Time will tell how the court challenges to Grisham's ban play out, but one thing is for sure: the fight over gun rights will be a hot topic for a long time to come.
