BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit against New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and four other officials on the grounds that the governor’s “emergency order’ prohibiting open and concealed carry in Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Joining SAF are the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association, Firearms Policy Coalition and a private citizen, Zachary Fort, who resides in Bernalillo County. They are represented by Jordon George of Aragon Moss George Jenkins, LLP who has also filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. The lawsuit and motion were filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
In addition to Gov. Lujan Grisham, defendants are Patrick M. Allen, cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Department of Health; Jason R. Bowie, cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, and W. Troy Weisler, chief of the New Mexico State Police. They are all sued individually and in their official capacities.
“Despite her clams to the contrary,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “Gov. Grisham does not have the authority to ‘suspend’ the Second Amendment for an alleged public health emergency or any other reason. Neither do any of the other defendants, nor can they legally enforce such a suspension.”
“Evidently,” added SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut, “Gov. Lujan Grisham believes she can disregard the constitution to further her own political views. We’re taking action to stop this unconstitutional exercise of power in its tracks, because it is a flagrant violation of the right of individual citizens to carry firearms in public for personal defense.
“Our motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction will prevent the state from further causing injury to the plaintiffs and other citizens under this unlawful order,” Kraut added.
Second Amendment Foundation
Since its inception in 1974, SAF has been involved in more than 260 legal cases across the nation and has litigated – and won – cases at the highest levels of the American judicial system. The organization now has 59 active cases across the U.S., all with the goal of protecting our right as Americans to keep and bear arms.