Violators faced potential civil penalties and fines up to $5,000.
Grisham certainly anticipated pushbacks from Second Amendment advocates. What she could not have foreseen was the utter rejection of her “emergency public health order” by members of her own party.
Law enforcement vowed not to enforce the ban and even gun control backers realized the unconstitutionality of the arbitrary act.
The New Mexico Attorney General refused to defend state officials from the deluge of legal action pouring into the state from outraged citizens and groups.
The controversial ban took effect Sept. 8 and immediately drew a vicious backlash. Urias granted the TRO in the suit filed by Gun Owners of America, the National Association for Gun Rights, the New Mexico Shooting Sports Foundation and the Gun Owners Foundation, among others.
The judge wrote that the TRO is to remain in effect “until such time as the Court has ruled on the Plaintiff’s motions for preliminary injunction, following a hearing at which all parties shall have the opportunity to present further argument to this court.”
The hearing is slated for Oct. 3, 2023.
The fact that a temporary restraining order was issued spoke volumes to Breitbart News senior legal contributor Ken Klukowski. The constitutional lawyer noted that it is “an extremely rare form of injunction, one that is given in constitutional rights cases only for the most egregious forms of government abuses.”
It is certainly welcome news to law-abiding citizens of New Mexico who value their Second Amendment freedoms. And it should serve as a warning to other political leaders tempted to make an unconstitutional power grab.
