Updated – 10-12-2023

Facing severe political backlash over her original decision, MLG reduced the size of her gun ban. Which public spaces remain “gun-free” under the altered ban? Oh, that would be public parks in areas where violent crime is a problem. That makes sense because this whole thing is about protecting the kids. 

Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up. NEW MEXICANS, STOP VOTING FOR THESE PEOPLE!

You can take your kids to play where the gangs play, just leave your guns at home.  

Last month, Albuquerque’s mayor Keller asked Grisham to call a special session on gun violence, but Grisham responded that her edict would accomplish more than could be achieved through legislation. 

Yesterday, (October 11th) U.S. District Judge David Urias (a Biden appointee) upheld MLG’s unconstitutional edict. 

In case anyone is paying attention, the world is still insane.

Original post below:

“Gun violence is a public health issue, poverty is a public health issue, environmental consequences from energy is [sic] a public health issue, all of these disenfranchised populations, all of the equity barriers, are all public health issues. And when we address those, our economy is better, our families are stronger, our risks are fewer.”

The above is a direct quote from MLG last Friday to the dean of Maryland-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As one of the nation’s leading abortion enthusiasts, she then added, “Women’s reproductive rights are a significant public health issue, not the least of which is giving families and women the tools they need to do effective family planning.”

At first read, it may appear that New Mexico’s governor has taken some word salad-making lessons from our nation’s VP, but she’s actually saying quite a lot here. In my recent article for the New Mexico Sun, I addressed the tyrannical way in which the constitutional and ongoing referendum project has been dismissed and belittled by the governor and her SOS. In that very important test case, the soap box Grisham and Toulouse-Oliver are standing on is also labeled “Public Health,” or, more broadly, “Public Peace, Health and Safety.” In other words, “We know what’s good for you. You’re not allowed to disagree with our expertise, our science, or any decision passed down from our Ministry of Truth.”

As a middle-aged woman, I’ve been grown for a while. It’s been a long time since someone has had the right to tell me what to do outside of the law of the land. As a student of the US Constitution, and, more recently, the New Mexico Constitution, I am well aware that the smoke-blowing, heart-string-pulling language from our nation’s most left-leaning governors is an attempt to grab power that simply does not exist within the law. Though it is evident that MLG’s most recent, and most incredible, gun grab will not be allowed to stand, the fact that she would consider it is, and will remain, worth discussing, repeating, and publishing in history books as a warning to all future dictators.

Don’t tread on us. We’re not dead yet.

Because Democrats do not believe in letting tragedy go to waste, Grisham insists that New Mexico’s gun violence is forcing her to strip law-abiding New Mexicans’ of their right to defend themselves in public. When asked if she believed that criminals would obey her edict, she barely bat an eyelash before replying in the negative. Criminals do not obey the law, let alone edicts. That’s what makes them criminals. This is why we have the God-given right to self-defense in the first place. Of course, the primary enemy our founding fathers left us armed to defend against is an overreaching, tyrannical government.

It takes an iron stomach and strength of conviction to understand that human depravity cannot be solved by tightening the leash. Scripture says that sin exists because the law exists. From the moment mankind was given a direct command, the possibility of breaking that command came into being. That’s what people do who are in possession of both freedom and selfishness–they sin (some more than others). Still, the Creator, the only one with a right to tyrannical rule, found freedom a precious enough thing to allow us to keep it. When we as humans begin to take freedoms from each other, rebellion and revolution are inevitable. This is not to say that we should live in a libertarian’s dream or that there should not be consequences for sin (imposed by God) or for law-breaking (imposed by government). On the contrary, there are plenty of things our government could be doing to protect and uplift its innocent while either sentencing or healing its guilty. We could dramatically increase the minimum sentencing requirements for first-time violent offenders, close the border, reduce regulations and create jobs, reopen mental institutions, fund rehabilitation centers and addiction-related research, and, most importantly, put God back on the throne so that our children find hope again. What we cannot do, what will never work, is expect the wolves to obey the shepherd. We’re told that banning the murder of the unborn will force pregnant women to become desperate criminals. Still, somehow, banning the right to self-defense will compel the depraved to comply. I’m not sure how else to say this, but wishing doesn’t make it so.

The three precious children whose deaths the governor is using as a shield for her tyranny might be alive today without the invention of the firearm. This isn’t something one can know for sure, but it’s certainly probable. One would, however, be hard-pressed to prove that any one of these deaths could have been prevented through stricter gun laws. I will argue that to even suggest such a thing is an exercise in ignorance of the human condition.

I fully agree with Sheriff Medina who said at an Albuquerque Police Department’s news conference regarding the death of an 11-year-old boy, “The simple fact that you would get cut off and fire 17 rounds at a car that you don’t know who is in, is just completely unacceptable. Individuals who have that mindset have no other place in this community but jail.” I would argue that the death penalty is more appropriate here than the suggestion of “jail”; still, I agree with the sentiment. It must be clear to any thinking person that the kind of individual who would use their weapon in this manner is not the kind of person who obeys edicts to disarm.

Article V, Section IV of the New Mexico Constitution outlines the very succinct powers of the governor. In addition to being the commander in chief of the state’s military forces, the governor’s job is simple: to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Laws require the legislature, not simply the opinion and pen of the executive.

As a woman, I am particularly incensed by the implication that I do not have the right to defend myself or to equal the playing field in the way guns do. Guns are not the reason for the increased violence in our society. Guns have been hanging over doorways and within the reach of children since the founding of this country and before. The mere existence of guns is not the reason that hopeless children are taking their lives and the lives of others. Accidental gun deaths may be reduced dramatically by increased education, but criminal gun deaths will only be reduced by healing the souls of the broken and keeping violent offenders behind bars.

Sarah Valente is the chairwoman of the Republican Party of Taos County