Show your Support for the Constitution by Posting this Sign

There is an ongoing attack on the very core of our Constitution here in New Mexico, but it’s not at all what most politicians and political activists have led you to believe. According to this morning’s Albuquerque Journal, “Randy Donk, a member of Gun Owners of America, Inc., takes his handgun along while he’s shopping at Walmart, eating Thai food in Albuquerque, and even stepping out the door into his front yard,” asserting that he “didn’t want to be disarmed in public.”

Nobody is challenging Mr. Donk’s right to possess his handgun in his own front yard. The Constitution gives him the right to do that under the the Takings Clause of the 5th Amendment, which says, “nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.” This protects Mr. Donk from uncompensated regulatory takings of his property by the government, like prohibitions against keeping his firearms at home. But the Governor’s public health order “temporarily prohibiting the carrying of guns on public property with certain exceptions” does not do that because Mr. Donk’s front yard is not public property.

Mr Donk, on the other hand, believes he has the right to take his handgun onto other people’s property without their permission or consent. Both Walmart and his favorite Thai restaurant are privately owned properties that do not belong to him and are not subject to his demands. Like his front yard, they are protected from government takings by the Constitution. Private property owners get to set their own rules without the government interference that Gun Owners of America and other activist groups are now demanding.

According to the Journal, Donk wrote, “I fully intend to ignore these orders, because they are clearly unlawful and categorically unconstitutional,” and Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said, “It’s unconstitutional, so there’s no way we can enforce that order.” These statements demonstrate ignorance of the law, contempt for our Constitution, and disrespect for private property. We the people can stand up for the Constitution and educate our politicians and law enforcement officials by posting “No Firearms” signs and demanding that our Constitutional private property rights be protected.

If you live or work in Albuquerque or Bernalillo County, please contact me at boslough.mark@gmail.com if you would like a sign for your home or business. Please spread the word by posting this blog on social media, and by retweeting this X (Twitter) thread.