Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham attacks our constitutional rights

A young boy falls through the ice on a frozen lake. People gather around, but can’t reach the boy. One woman yells at the crowd, “Do something! Somebody do something!” One man steps forward, picks up a nearby brick and winds up to throw it at the boy. The crowd stops him and demands to know what he’s doing. He looks surprised and replies, “I’m doing something.”

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is both the yelling woman and the man with the brick. She’s issued an order prohibiting open and concealed carry of firearms in public places. In essence, she’s attempting to obliterate the Right to Bear Arms that’s protected in both our federal and state constitutions. The response was immediate.

The state Republican Party is filing a lawsuit against Grisham and Republican state legislators are calling for her impeachment. If you’re rolling your eyes at the mention of Republicans, I don’t blame you. Steve Pearce held a press conference to announce the lawsuit where he and other Republicans, many of whom still actively defend Donald Trump’s criminal activities, claimed that “no one is above the law,” I got light-headed from the near-toxic levels of hypocrisy in the room. But Democrats like Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, Attorney General Raul Torres, State Senator Joe Cervantes and US Congressman Gabe Vasquez are actively opposing Grisham, too. Additionally, Bernalillo Sheriff John Allen, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina and the NM Chiefs Of Police Association are standing up to the Governor. Everyone around her whose job it is to know the law and constitution tells her this is unconstitutional, but she ignores and attacks them.

She’s said, “It’s not for police to tell me what’s constitutional or not,” and responded to John Allen’s opposition by saying, “I don’t need a lecture on constitutionality from Sheriff Allen: what I need is action.” It’s clear she needs a lecture on constitutionality from someone. Yes, gun violence needs to be addressed, but you don’t fix any problem by stripping away the rights of law-abiding citizens in the process; especially when you took an oath to do the exact opposite as governor. If Grisham believed that stripping 2nd Amendment rights would stop shootings, she’d just be misguided or delusional, but she’s openly admitted that criminals aren’t going to follow her order. In other words, she’s taking a course of action she knows won’t impact the people whose behavior she claims to want to stop. So she’s either lying about her goal and just wants to strip us of rights she doesn’t like or she believes all gun owners who choose to carry are criminals. I’m not sure which is more nauseating.

Grisham claims she’s not in violation of either constitution because she says this isn’t a ban; it’s a temporary pause…a suspension, but there’s no off button on the bill of rights. Imagine an official trying to pause voting rights protected in the 15th and 19th Amendments. We have to protect all of our rights all of the time or none of them are safe. Thankfully, U.S. District Judge Urias has blocked the Governor’s order for now, but this needs to be addressed. I’ve said before that Governor Grisham is an enemy of liberty…and that’s still true. In addition, she’s now trying to make it more dangerous for law abiding citizens in NM by removing their ability to protect themselves. Like the story at the beginning, she’s claiming we need to do something, but all she’s doing is throwing bricks.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham attacks our constitutional rights