Gov. bans guns in public places up north. Here's what to know for southern New Mexico.

Last week, citing gun violence in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, state leaders suspended the right to carry openly or concealed firearms in public for 30 days.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a public health order aimed at preventing open or concealed carrying of firearms in public spaces in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. At the Governor's direction, the New Mexico Dept. of Health Secretary Patrick Allen signed a public health order prohibiting anyone from possessing a firearm, either open or concealed, in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.

Here is what we know so far.

Order only affects Albuquerque for now

According to the public health order, only cities or counties averaging 1,000 or more violent crimes per 100,000 residents per year since 2021 are affected by the order. Additionally, the municipality must experience more than 90 firearm-related emergency department visits per 100,000 residents from July 2022 to June 2023.

As of now, that means Albuquerque and Bernalillo County are the only municipalities affected.

The order relies on data from the FBI's uniform crime report, which collects crime statistics from municipalities across the U.S. and reports them to the public yearly. In recent years, experts have questioned the accuracy of the FBI's data.

Citizens with carry permits will still be allowed to possess their weapons on private property, such as gun ranges and gun stores, if the firearm is transported in a locked box or if a trigger lock or other mechanism is used to render the gun incapable of being fired.

More: Group sues after New Mexico governor suspends rights to carry guns in Albuquerque in public

Read the order here

MLG Order by Justin Garcia on Scribd

What's the penalty for having a gun in the affected areas?

For areas affected by the order, carrying a firearm on state property, public schools, and public parks is unlawful. However, the order does not give any police department in the State the authority to imprison anyone for violating the order. Instead, authorities in affected areas could issue civil and administrative penalties such as revocation of licenses or fines. The order does not specify what those penalties could or will be.

In addition to no explicit penalty for violating the order, questions abound regarding who would enforce it.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said in a tweet that the Albuquerque Police Department would not enforce the Governor's order.

"We welcome meaningful solutions and additional resources to fight crime in Albuquerque. APD is not responsible for enforcing the Governor's ban, our officers will continue to enforce all criminal laws, combat gun violence, and push for needed justice in our city," Keller said.

When asked by reporters in a news conference on Sept. 8 about enforcement, Lujan Grisham said her office was working with the State's Department of Public Safety (which oversees the New Mexico State Police).

What incidents triggered this public health order

There's no available state-wide data that could immediately shed light on the prevalence of gun violence in the State this year. Every Town for Gun Safety, a gun violence prevention advocacy group, estimates that about 492 people yearly are shot to death in New Mexico. That makes the State the 6th deadliest, according to Every Town's data.

Several high-profile incidents have occurred, including two recent shootings in Albuquerque that killed two children. Froylan Villegas, 11, was shot and killed outside of a baseball game when an unknown person fired 17 rounds into Villegas's aunt's car. According to news reporting, bullets also struck the aunt. She remains in critical condition. Three teenagers and a 5-year-old girl were also killed in separate events in Albuquerque this summer.

Additionally, the State saw a mass shooting in Farmington last May, leaving three people dead and six injured. In the southern part of the state, a man fleeing arrest shot a police officer to death in Alamogordo, while a man in Las Cruces nearly shot a police officer during a gunfight on the East Mesa.

Early legal challenges

Lujan Grisham told reporters she expected legal challenges – the first of which was filed on Saturday in U.S. District Court by The National Association for Gun Rights and Albuquerque resident Foster Allen Haines, who intended to participate in the State's open carry law, according to the lawsuit.

Lujan Grisham and Secretary Allen were listed as defendants in the civil lawsuit, which argues the orders violate the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit cites a 2022 Supreme Court decision that struck down a New York gun law restricting the right to concealed carry outside the home.

According to the lawsuit, "In Bruen, the Court held: "We reiterate that the standard for applying the Second Amendment is as follows, 'When the Second Amendment's plain text covers an individual's conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct. The Government must then justify its regulation by demonstrating that it is consistent with the Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation."

"The State must justify the Carry Prohibition by demonstrating that it is consistent with the Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation," the lawsuit read. "But it is impossible for the State to meet this burden because there is no such historical tradition of firearms regulation in this Nation.

"The Carry Prohibition infringes the rights of the people, including the Plaintiffs, to keep and bear arms as protected by the Second Amendment."

The lawsuit seeks an injunction preventing the order from being enforced.

A second lawsuit, this one class action, was filed on Sunday. It, too, seeks an injunction and makes similar arguments.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Here's what to know about Lujan Grisham's order banning guns in public