OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Fox News host and personality Judge Jeanine Pirro upset the liberal left again on Monday when she blasted New Mexico’s Democratic governor for imposing a gun ban by executive fiat.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an emergency health order banning residents from concealed and open carry of firearms in certain jurisdictions for 30 days in response to several gun-related incidents and homicides, including young children.
Her move was immediately ripped as unconstitutional — by legal experts and politicians on the left and right — though she dismissed the criticism and said she expected and welcomed a court challenge.
“I don’t know what’s more shocking, this woman’s ignorance or her arrogance, and both come into play,” Pirro said Monday during a segment on Fox News’ popular “The Five” program.
“She is ignorant of the law in a country where she is the chief executive of the state. She is ignorant of her oath, which requires that she uphold the Constitution,” Pirro noted further.
“She is ignorant of the Supreme Court decisions that are fundamental to the Second Amendment,” Pirro continued. “The first being, what are we talking about, Bruen, the New York case, just said within the last two years, New Yorkers have the right to carry a firearm outside of their home when some nut governor like [Andrew] Cuomo tried to say you can’t bring them out of your home.
“And then Heller against D.C., the Supreme Court said it’s not just for a militia; you can use a gun for self-defense. And then McDonald against the city of Chicago, the 14th Amendment applies to an individual carrying a gun. Look, this is fundamental law in the United States,” Pirro explained further.
In June 2022, the Supreme Court struck down New York’s “good cause” prerequisite for pistol permits, a decision that sparked criticism from Democrats, many of whom then advocated for an expansion of the court in response to the 6-3 ruling in the case of New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen.
Justice Clarence Thomas, the author of the opinion, referenced historical gun regulations and the discourse surrounding the ratification of the 14th Amendment to justify the unconstitutionality of New York’s law.
“One of the things she says she’s trying to do is stop crime. Well, what are you doing about stopping crime? How about you make some arrests?” Pirro continued.
“How about you get rid of the cashless bail law? How about we make sure we put more money into the police department? How about you close more cases,” Pirro added. “And by the way, you say that the genesis of this is three kids who got shot. Have there been people arrested in those cases?”
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“Now you want to take the legal gun owner, and I want to end it with his one thing, which really blew me away. She has got some kind of state regulators who are going to take stats, and those stats are going to be on every crime with a gun, the type of gun, the brand, the caliber of the gun,” Pirro continued.
“So, then she is going to come out with a report saying this gun is 9 millimeters, Sig-Sauer, whatever it might be, a gun responsible for more murders than any other gone, taking away the individual responsibility. But nowhere in her stats is the assessment of whether the gun is legal or illegal,” Pirro said.
“I would recommend, governor, that you throw that in there because I’ll bet most of these murderers are happening with illegal guns. Stop trying to take them away from legal gun owners,” she added.
Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, and Police Chief Harold Medina have all told Grisham they have no intention of enforcing her ban.
