Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a revised public health order late Friday on gun violence and substance misuse by including a new provision for the Department of Public Safety to organize safe surrender events.
The newly issued order requires the cities of Albuquerque, Española and Las Cruces to hold gun buy back events within 30 days so gun owners can safely surrender their weapons.
Lujan Grisham’s public health order, originally issued in September, engendered controversy because it contained a measure that suspended the right to carry an open or concealed carry gun in Albuquerque. Several Democrats said they did not support the measure and gun rights advocates challenged the provision. A federal district judge blocked that part of Lujan Grisham’s order.
She revised it later in the month to remove that part of the public health order, which was set to expire next week.
Lujan Grisham cited the fact that last week, students were found at an Albuquerque public school to be carrying guns.
“The fact of the matter is that New Mexicans are still being threatened, injured and killed by firearms….while thankfully no one was hurt [when the students were found carrying guns], these incidents have profound psychological effects on our children,” Lujan Grisham said in a news release, “The last four weeks have clearly demonstrated the impact we can have on violent crime when we work in better coordination, but the situation remains dire. We’re not letting up, and I’m continuing to make investments that drive down violence in our communities and protect our children.”
The updated public health order can be found here.
