VIOLENCE ISN’T A PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM, AND THIS IS AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL — AND ABHORRENT — POWER GRAB: New Mexico Governor Suspends Gun Rights in Albuquerque for “Public Health Emergency.” “Democratic leaders have increasingly turned to a claim used successfully during the pandemic in declaring a health emergency to maximize unilateral authority of governors. There have also been calls to declare racism a public health emergency, supported by groups like the American Public Health Association. Transgender programs have also been declared a public health emergency by some groups. The motivation behind many of these calls is not to negate constitutional rights, but the question is whether such declarations allow governors discretion to suspend or curtail individual rights.”

If “public health” powers are going to be abused this way, then they must be abolished, or ignored. And those who abuse them must be brought to justice. Groups that call for such abuses of power must be brought to account.