{"id":31788,"date":"2023-09-13T18:55:05","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T00:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/attorney-general-tells-governor-he-wont-defend-gun-order\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:46:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:46:22","slug":"attorney-general-tells-governor-he-wont-defend-gun-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/attorney-general-tells-governor-he-wont-defend-gun-order\/","title":{"rendered":"Attorney general tells governor he won\u2019t defend gun order"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Then-Bernalillo
Then-Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez speaks to a panel of lawmakers during a meeting in Albuquerque on Sept. 27, 2017. New Mexico's top prosecutor on Jan. 23 asked the state Supreme Court to nullify abortion ordinances that local elected officials have passed in recent months in conservative reaches of the Democratic-led state. Attorney General Torrez urged the high court to intervene against ordinances that he said overstep local government authority to regulate health care access, and violate the New Mexico Constitution's guarantees of equal protection and due process. (Susan Montoya Bryan\/Associated Press file)<\/span>Susan Montoya Bryan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez has urged Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to reconsider the implementation of a public health order that restricts gun owners\u2019 rights to carry their firearms in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.<\/p>\n

In a letter obtained by Tri-City Record<\/em> dated Sept. 12, Torrez told the governor that his office would not defend her administration in cases challenging \u201cPublic Health Emergency Order Imposing Temporary Firearm Restrictions, Drug Monitoring and Other Public Safety Measures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four civil cases have been filed against Lujan Grisham as of Sept. 12. They are: National Association for Gun Rights v. Grisham, Blas v. Grisham, Donk v. Grisham and We the Patriots USA Inc. v. Grisham.<\/p>\n

Torrez stated it is his \u201cstatutory obligation as New Mexico\u2019s chief legal officer to defend state officials when they are sued in their official capacity,\u201d but he further wrote that his \u201cduty to uphold the constitutional rights of every citizen takes precedence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Torrez told the governor, he does \u201cnot believe the Emergency Order will have any meaningful impact on public safety but, more importantly, I do not believe it passes constitutional muster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Torrez called the governor\u2019s actions \u201cnovel\u201d and \u201cunlikely to survive judicial scrutiny\u201d saying the order\u2019s \u201cflawed legal foundation is likely to obscure rather than highlight meaningful solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also pointed out that criminals were not likely to follow the order. \u201cGiven 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,\u201d Torrez wrote.<\/p>\n

\"Farmington
Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett says Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham does not have the authority to override the U.S. Constitution.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cCriminals don\u2019t care about her making that statement. Criminals don\u2019t care about that at all,\u201d Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett said, in agreement with Torrez. He added that Lujan Grisham \u201cdoesn\u2019t have the authority to override the Constitution of the United States. No governor does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duckett stated that during COVID, many city governments asked the New Mexico Legislature to \u201cput boundaries\u201d on the governor\u2019s ability to place restrictions on freedoms under the guise of a public health emergency. \u201cHow far do these public health powers go for the governor?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Torrez addressed this issue in his letter, writing, \u201cConsidering the extraordinary resistance that many citizens had to certain public health restrictions during the recent COVID pandemic, I believe it is unwise to stretch the definition of a \u2018public health emergency\u2019 to encompass something that is fundamentally a public safety issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duckett said the issue is the governor \u201cbelieves these public health orders give her this type of authority,\u201d and he hopes the state legislature will look to \u201climit these powers\u201d in a future session.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are not addressing the issue at hand,\u201d Duckett said. \u201cWe are not enforcing gun laws the way we should be. Violent criminals are allowed to walk the streets and are not being kept in jail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many violent criminals are released from jail while they await a future court date, and some recommit crimes when they are let out of jail.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for us to stand up for our rights as citizens and have criminals held accountable,\u201d Duckett said.<\/p>\n

Torrez agreed that the state\u2019s laws need to be revisited and that the state\u2019s residents understand there is not a single solution to public safety, yet multiple issues that need to be addressed \u201csimultaneously and comprehensively to make a meaningful impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

He suggested more police officers, \u201cstricter gun laws and tougher guidelines for pretrial detention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Torrez also said the state needs \u201crobust mental health and drug treatment,\u201d along with rehabilitation programs to help reduce recidivism rates.<\/p>\n

He also stated the use of \u201creal-time date on gun crimes and gun trafficking\u201d would be wise, as well as a \u201cprotective services framework that keeps today\u2019s child victims from maturing into the next generation\u2019s repeat offenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Torrez pointed out there is a \u201cmore thoughtful and deliberative process\u201d to this issue and that is to avoid \u201cunilateral action that infringes on the constitutional rights of law abiding citizens,\u201d and instead discuss the issue with the New Mexico Legislature and make changes to the laws.<\/p>\n

Torrez said he understands the governor\u2019s frustration as well as the \u201cheart-wrenching challenge of gun violence\u201d in the community, but he also urged her \u201cto reconsider this course of action and redouble your efforts to bring about lasting change through the democratic process.\u201d<\/p>\n

He promised his office would provide resources should Lujan Grisham choose to build \u201ca safer community without sacrificing the constitutional rights which we have sworn an oat to preserve, protect and defend.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett echoes AG\u2019s sentiments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-31788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81565,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31788\/revisions\/81565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31788"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=31788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}