SANTA FE, N.M. — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Wednesday that she has ended a public health emergency order that suspended health care eligibility carry weapons in public parks and playgrounds in New Mexico’s largest metropolitan area.
The original September 2023 public health order set off a frenzy of public protests, sparked Republican calls for the governor’s impeachment and deepened divisions among top Democratic officials. It also sought to strengthen oversight of firearm sales and monitor illegal drug use in public schools through wastewater testing — before it expired without extension on Saturday.
“I have decided to let the public health order expire, but our fight to protect New Mexico communities from the dangers of guns and illegal drugs will continue,” said Lujan Grisham.
She described steps toward reducing gun violence through gun buyback programs, increased arrests, the distribution of free gun storage locks and an increased inmate population at an Albuquerque detention center.
The governor’s original order would have suspended the right to bear arms in most public places in the Albuquerque area, but was scaled back to public parks and playgrounds, with an exception to ensure access to a municipal shooting range park. Lujan Grisham said she responded to a series of shootings in the state where children died.
Gun rights Lawyers filed a series of lawsuits and court motions aimed at blocking gun restrictions that they say would deprive Albuquerque-area residents of the right to carry themselves in public for self-defense. The implications for ongoing litigation in federal court were unclear.
The standoff was one of several in the wake of a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling expand gun rightswhile leaders in politically liberal-oriented states explore new avenues for restrictions.
The gun restrictions were tied to a statistical violent crime threshold that applied only to Albuquerque and the surrounding area.
