New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has called lawmakers back to Santa Fe for a special session to deal with crime and homelessness, and though this time around the anti-gun governor isn’t demanding legislators adopt bans on so-called assault weapons, impose a 14-business day waiting period on gun transfers, or raise the age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21 (as she did during the regular session), she has quietly extended her emergency public health order that makes playgrounds in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County “gun-free zones.”
FBI data shows steep drops in every category of violent crime across the U.S. in the first three months of 2024 compared with the same period a year earlier, continuing a downward trend since a coronavirus pandemic surge.
That’s not the case in the Albuquerque metropolitan area — home to roughly one-third of New Mexico residents — where violent crime rates are holding steady at about three times the national average. Criminal cases involving juveniles and guns rose last year as authorities also grappled with encampments of homeless people on sidewalks and in riverside parks.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said Wednesday that the city cleared 1,000 encampments in June alone and spends $1 million a month on housing vouchers. It’s not enough, he said.
Lujan Grisham said the streets still aren’t safe after lawmakers in February approved modest public safety reforms that extend a waiting period on gun purchases to seven days and give judges an extra opportunity to deny pretrial bail in dangerous situations.
This week the governor extended emergency public health orders for the Albuquerque area regarding gun violence and illicit drug use that were first invoked in September 2023.
It’s been almost a year now since the governor issued her initial proclamation, which originally included a complete ban on lawful concealed carry in Albuquerque and the surrounding Bernalillo County. After Grisham was hauled into court over her order, she amended it to only prohibit concealed carry at public parks and playgrounds. A federal judge restricted that order even further, ruling that public parks are not valid “sensitive places” while allowing her edict to remain in effect when it comes to playgrounds.
The lawsuits against Luijan Grisham’s emergency declarations continue, with oral arguments in Fort v. Grisham set for late September. Crime, meanwhile, continues to be a plague on the city, and Lujan Grisham’s gun control orders have done nothing to help. Homicides were already trending down when the governor issued her emergency declaration and have continued that trend in the months since, but according to the Albuquerque police other major crime categories have seen a spike this year, including:
- 7% increase in assaults
- 20% increase in burglaries
- 29% increase in vandalism/destruction of property
- 14% increase in narcotics offenses
Those stats were most recently updated in April, so they might have changed since then, but it’s pretty clear that the governor’s prohibition on parents lawfully carrying a firearm to protect their kids at the playgrounds isn’t doing anything to stop violent criminals from engaging in their lawless activities.
After many of her fellow Democrats balked at Lujan Grisham’s big-ticket gun control items during the regular session, the governor decided to take a different approach during the special session; increasing the penalties for felons illegally possessing firearms, prohibiting standing on most medians to cut down on panhandlers, and making it easier to involuntarily commit individuals to mental institutions and drug treatment facilities, among other recommendations. But as the Los Angeles Times reports, Lujan Grisham has still struggled to find support for her agenda among her fellow Democrats, and as of Wednesday not a single member of the Democratic caucus had signed on as cosponsors of the bills.
Flanked by a large group of law enforcement officials, mayors, tribal governors and others who packed into the governor’s Cabinet room, Lujan Grisham said it was “unacceptable” lawmakers didn’t want to spend time trying to resolve some of the mental health issues and other ills plaguing the state.
“I want to point this out, and I think it’s really important for New Mexicans [to know this]: They’ve had years to address these proposals,” she said.
“When someone tells you it’s a big problem — it is. And when they say to you, ‘It’s going to take a lot of work’ — it has,” the governor added. “But don’t let them tell you that they don’t have enough time. They’ve had decades. And in fact, the failure of our Legislature to take serious these issues, in large part, is exactly how we got to where we are today, and it’s untenable.”
The governor’s remarks seemed to alienate lawmakers.
“The press conference, obviously, was intended to pressure us, and I think it has the potential for backfire,” said Rep. Christine Chandler, a Los Alamos Democrat who chairs the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee, which has been delving into the governor’s proposals for months.
Chandler said she was “disappointed” the impression the governor left with the public is that lawmakers have been hands off and unwilling to engage.
“I think that’s really a very incorrect characterization and interpretation of what’s been going on. In fact, it’s the opposite,” she said, adding her committee spent a “tremendous amount of time” on a proposal dealing with assisted outpatient treatment only to have it pulled by the governor.
Lujan Grisham may be the least effective governor in the country, which is a good thing for gun owners in the Land of Enchantment. Her innate ability to alienate her allies helped to stymie most of her anti-gun agenda during the regular session, and she may very well strike out during the special session as well.
Unfortunately, until the courts step in and set things right the governor can still play games with the right to bear arms. Grisham has already extended her “gun-free zones” for another few months, but if the plaintiffs in Fort v. Grisham are successful, that won’t be an option much longer.
