Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen clarified Monday that he will not enforce New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s (D) “unconstitutional” ban on concealed carry.
The Associated Press (AP) quoted Allen saying, “It’s unconstitutional, so there’s no way we can enforce that order.”
He went on to express his opinion that the order “does nothing to curb gun violence.”
Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen (R) calls New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s (D) order suspending the carrying of firearms unconstitutional during a news conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on September 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)
Earlier on Monday, Breitbart News reported KOB4 footage, which captured Grisham telling a reporter that the ban on concealed carry would not impact criminals.
In the footage, a reporter can be heard talking to Grisham, asking, “Do you think that criminals are going to hear this message and not carry a gun in Albuquerque, on the streets, for 30 days?”
Grisham responded, “Ah….no.”
New Mexico State Rep. John Block (R) told the AP, “My constituents have reached out to me in droves, emailing and texting me that this is insane, this is horrifying, this is unconstitutional.”
Block indicated that an article of impeachment against Grisham is being drafted.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.