Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez (D) released a letter Tuesday making clear he will not “defend” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s (D) ban on concealed and open carry.
When Torrez says he will not “defend” the ban, he specifically states that he will not argue in favor of the ban in the two lawsuits that have already been filed against it.
Breitbart News reported that one lawsuit was filed by the National Association for Gun Rights and the other by Gun Owners of America.
KOB4 noted that Torrez is concerned that Grisham’s order focused on law-abiding concealed carriers rather than criminals.
Torrez wrote, “Given that only responsible gun owners are likely to abide, much less recognize your ban, it is unclear how this action will lead to a measurable decline in gun violence in our community … The data do not support the conclusion that gun violence in our community is attributable to otherwise law-abiding citizens exercising their constitutional right to carry firearms for protection outside the home.”
He also criticized Grisham’s decision to push the ban under the guise of a “public health emergency,” writing, “I believe it is unwise to stretch the definition of a ‘public health emergency’ to encompass something that is fundamentally a public safety issue.”
Breitbart News pointed out that Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, the D.A. over Albuquerque, said he would not enforce Grisham’s ban, as did Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen.
Bregman and Allen both described the ban as “unconstitutional.”
Gun control activist David Hogg slammed Grisham’s concealed carry ban as well, using a post on X to say, “I support gun safety but there is no such thing as a state public health emergency exception to the U.S. Constitution.”