Biden-Appointed Judge Approves New Mexico Governor’s Concealed Carry Ban

President Joe Biden-appointed U.S. District Judge David Herrera Urias issued a decision Wednesday allowing New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s (D) ban on concealed carry in parks and playgrounds to remain in effect.

On September 13, 2023, Breitbart News reported that Urias granted a temporary injunction against Grisham’s September 8, 2023, ban, which prohibited concealed and open carry in larger New Mexico cities like Albuquerque. The ban applied to licensed concealed carriers, too.

On September 15, 2023, two days after the temporary injunction was granted, Grisham amended her ban on concealed and open carry, saying it applied only to carrying a gun in parks and playgrounds.

RELATED — NM Gov. Grisham: People Shouldn’t Own AR-15s Because They Shouldn’t “Own an Automatic Weapon”

When Urias issued the  temporary restraining order, he made clear it was to stay in place “until such time as the Court has ruled on the Plaintiffs’ motions for preliminary injunction, following a hearing at which all parties shall have the opportunity to present further argument to this Court.”

On Wednesday, Judge Urias issued a decision on the preliminary injunction request, siding with Grisham’s amended ban and suggesting that parks and playgrounds fall into a “sensitive places” categorization and are therefore “excepted from the Second Amendment’s commands.”

The case is Smith v. Grisham (Smith is one of numerous consolidated plaintiffs in the case), No.  1:23-cv-00773, in the United States District Court of the District of New Mexico.

WATCH: AWR Hawkins Explains the Value of Concealed Carry Permits

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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.