Look who’s blowing off the Constitution now

IN (THE Jan. 12) Journal, I read an letter to the editor by Quay County Attorney Warren F. Frost saying the 29 county sheriffs who prefer their constituents’ individual liberty over Bloomberg-financed victim disarmament dictats from Santa Fe should resign or face the possibility of removal should they refuse to follow those dictats.

Frost cites Article XX, Section 1 of the New Mexico State Constitution as his rationale on this.

Article XX Miscellaneous, Section 1 Oath of officer reads that : “Every person elected or appointed to any office shall, before entering upon his duties, take and subscribe to an oath or affirmation that he will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution and laws of this state, and that he will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of his office to the best of his ability.”

Where in that clause do public officials, elected or appointed, reserve the right to blow off parts of the state Constitution that they don’t care for, as if those parts don’t exist?

In this case, I’m referring to willful disregard for Article II, Section 6 as repeatedly displayed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the Legislature.

Article II, Section 6 reads as follows: “No law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes, but nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons.

No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.” — As amended Nov. 2, 1971 and Nov. 2, 1986.

If the 29 of 33 county sheriffs who are opposed to the Bloomberg-financed victim disarmament campaign are subject to removal for refusing to follow its dictats, then why are Lujan Grisham and her fellow victim disarmers in the Legislature not subject to removal for their refusal to abide by Article II, Section 6?

MIKE BLESSING Albuquerque