ARCHDIOCESE OF SANTA FE NEWS RELEASE

Most Reverend John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe, issued the following statement Monday regarding the public health order to reduce gun violence in Bernalillo County:

“I believe Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is correct to point out the crisis we are experiencing in Albuquerque and the County of Bernalillo. The number of gun deaths we witness here is deplorable and tragic. I hope we can come together in New Mexico to address this issue. In my view, the governor has been consistent in addressing gun safety through legislation and is not now attacking the Second Amendment. She knows the law. Rather, I believe she is trying to get us to solve what has become a crisis in our state. The focus should be on the sanctity of human life. That is the point. I hope to hear more of an outcry over an 11-year-old boy killed by a bullet fired in a road rage incident than over the right to carry a gun. I do not see the governor’s call to action and discernment as a threat to the constitution. I ask all the faithful of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, along with all the faithful, to keep the victims of gun violence in your prayers so that we might take steps to solve the tragedy of gun violence in our society.”