New Mexico has not banned guns. In September 2023, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a public health emergency order that temporarily suspended open and concealed carry in the Albuquerque metro area, and that order is the source of the “New Mexico gun ban” question. A federal court blocked it within days, the Governor let the order and its amendments expire on October 14, 2024, and no firearm restrictions from it remain in effect today.1Michelle Lujan Grisham. Public Health Order on Firearms Expires
What the 2023 Order Actually Did
The order, signed September 8, 2023, applied to Bernalillo County, which contains Albuquerque. It suspended the right to carry firearms openly or concealed in most public places within the county for an initial 30-day period. Violators faced a civil penalty of up to $5,000, enforced by state police.
It did not ban ownership, and it did not reach inside private homes. Guns were still legal on private property with the owner’s permission. Transporting a firearm to a licensed dealer, gunsmith, or shooting range was allowed, provided the weapon was locked in a container or disabled with a safety device during transport.
The Governor framed gun violence as a public health crisis and relied on New Mexico’s Public Health Emergency Response Act, which lets the governor declare a public health emergency and authorize temporary measures in response.2Justia. New Mexico Code 12-10A-5 – Declaring a State of Public Health Emergency; Terminating the Emergency
A Federal Court Blocked It Within Days
Firearm rights groups and individual plaintiffs sued immediately. U.S. District Judge David Urias issued a temporary restraining order against the carry suspension and the related ban on firearms at state property, public schools, and public parks.3New Mexico Department of Health. Public Health Orders and Executive Orders
Judge Urias applied the test the U.S. Supreme Court set in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022). Under that test, conduct covered by the Second Amendment’s text is presumptively protected, and the government must show its restriction fits within the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.4Justia. New York State Rifle and Pistol Association Inc v Bruen A county-wide suspension of public carry resting on a public health declaration could not clear that bar, and the judge found residents’ constitutional rights would suffer irreparable harm without an injunction.
Law Enforcement Refused to Enforce It
The order drew opposition across party lines. Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen, a Democrat, publicly called the order unconstitutional and said his office would not enforce it. Albuquerque’s police chief voiced similar reluctance. With the two agencies responsible for enforcement in the affected area declining to act, the order had little practical force even before the court ruling.
Democratic legislators and members of Congress broke with the Governor as well. U.S. Representative Ted Lieu said there is no public health emergency exception to the U.S. Constitution. State Senator Joe Cervantes, a Democrat, argued the approach undermined genuine reform efforts. Republican state legislators called for impeachment proceedings.
Amended Versions and Expiration
After the injunction, the Governor’s office issued a narrower order on September 15, 2023, and amended it again on October 6, 2023.3New Mexico Department of Health. Public Health Orders and Executive Orders The revised versions dropped the sweeping carry ban and focused on firearms in specific locations such as public parks and playgrounds in areas meeting a violent crime threshold. The order and all its amendments expired on October 14, 2024, and were not renewed.1Michelle Lujan Grisham. Public Health Order on Firearms Expires
The 2025 New Mexico Supreme Court Ruling
Even though the orders had lapsed, the New Mexico Supreme Court decided the case because the questions were likely to recur. On March 6, 2025, in Amdor v. Grisham, the court ruled 3-2 that the Governor had authority under PHERA to issue public health orders addressing gun violence and substance abuse.5State Court Report. Amdor v Grisham, No. S-1-SC-40105
The majority held that gun violence and substance use disorder are legitimate issues for the state’s police power and that the challengers had not shown the orders exceeded PHERA or violated separation of powers. The court did strike down the Governor’s suspension of a juvenile detention alternatives program, finding she had never explained how suspending it related to reducing gun violence. Justices Michael Vigil and Briana Zamora dissented, warning that the majority’s reading leaves emergency powers largely unchecked.
The ruling is about state-law authority only. The federal Second Amendment barrier that stopped the 2023 order is unchanged, so any future governor attempting a similar carry suspension would face the same Bruen analysis in federal court.
What Is Legal in New Mexico Right Now
No firearm restrictions from the 2023 public health order are currently in effect. Carrying a firearm in Bernalillo County is legal to the same extent as anywhere else in the state, subject to existing state and federal law.
One statewide change did come out of this period through ordinary legislation rather than emergency order: New Mexico enacted a seven-day waiting period for firearm purchases, administered through the Department of Public Safety.6New Mexico Department of Public Safety. 7-Day Waiting Period That waiting period applies to purchases, not to ownership or carry, and it is in force statewide.