New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham kicked over the proverbial hornet’s nest when she decided to unilaterally declare all carrying of firearms in Albuquerque illegal. She claimed she was exercising public health emergency powers and could do just that, but it soon became clear that no, in fact, she couldn’t.

What’s more, Lujan Grisham has continued to double down by continuing her emergency order multiple times. While it no longer includes the blanket prohibition on lawful carry in general, it still creates restrictions that, frankly, she has no business declaring.

Last year, at least some in New Mexico were talking impeachment.

It was easy to talk that kind of talk when everything was nice and fresh, but this is 2024. It’s a new year, now several months divorced from the harsh reality of Lujan Grisham’s proclamation. Sure, people have forgotten, right?

Not so much, it seems.

Two Republican legislators filed a resolution Wednesday aimed at initiating impeachment proceedings against Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham over her emergency public health orders suspending the right to carry firearms in some public places in greater Albuquerque, such as parks and playgrounds.

The resolution from Reps. Stefani Lord of Sandia Park and John Block of Alamogordo accuses the governor of violating her oath of office to uphold the state and federal constitutions.

“The point is that she has too much power,” said Lord, founder of the advocacy group Pro-Gun Women. “We’re just trying to say to her, ‘You have too much power, you’re acting like a dictator. … And we’re going to impeach you.’”

Block accused the governor of “violating the Constitution to make a political statement,” noting that Lujan Grisham said she expected legal challenges from the outset.

Lujan Grisham claimed these two were making a political stunt, which she said they preferred to meaningful legislation, but I happen to think that this is meaningful legislation.

The truth of the matter is that Lujan Grisham literally told reporters that she didn’t expect criminals to obey her emergency order. That means she knew good and well that the very people who represent a problem were the very people who wouldn’t pay any attention to her order in the first place.

She meant for this to just apply to law-abiding citizens, and that’s a major problem.

Most anti-gun voices at least have the foresight to argue that while good people will get impacted by gun control, the target is really the criminals.

Lujan Grisham’s own words, however, tell us that the goal wasn’t to do anything to the criminals in the first place, just the good guys who might actually stop the bad guys.

New Mexico may have elected her to be government, but that doesn’t give her carte blanche authority to do whatever she wants. She’s a governor, not a dictator, yet her so-called emergency order was dictatorial in its complete elimination of the right to bear arms.

She had to know what she was doing. If not, then New Mexico elected a functional moron to the state’s highest office.

Of course, both could be true.

Impeachment is the natural recourse, though, when dealing with such a governor. Both Lord and Block are using the system of checks and balances appropriately and I wish them the best of luck. Lujan Grisham’s approach to violent crime is disgusting and New Mexico really deserves better, even if they elected her in the first place.