After being deemed non-essential and shut down since March 24, 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Los Ranchos Gun Shop opened its doors on Monday, May 18.
Owned by Mark Abramson, the gun store had been one of the casualties of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s restrictions on non-essential businesses to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“Most of our guests coming in are understanding of the fact that we can't have too many people in the store at any one time and we're policing that carefully,” Abramson told New Mexico Business Daily. “We cap ourselves at 11 people, including myself and staff.”
Although Gov. Grisham eased restrictions on May 15, 2020, her modified public health order is effective through May 31 and requires wearing a cloth face covering or mask in public.
“Customers are put off by the fact that we require them to wear masks,” said Abramson in an interview. “We're requiring masks out of an abundance of caution for our employees and guests not because of the governor's order.”
Abramson is among the 84 percent of New Mexico business owners dissatisfied with the state government's handling of the shutdown, according to a new study released by the New Mexico Business Coalition.
“The wholesale transfer of power from the legislature, from a democratic system, to a delegation to the governor who can exercise unlimited authority and have the police power to enforce it is really problematic,” Abramson said. “Representatives may have been in line with her but because we have a part-time legislature and there was no mechanism for calling them back or being required to consult with them put her in a position that I cannot imagine was anticipated when that authority was initially given.”
The New Mexico Business Coalition analysis further found that 85 percent think Gov. Grisham’s decisions "do not support what is best for all New Mexicans."
“People are very frustrated with how long this has gone on,” said Carla Sonntag, president of the New Mexico Business Coalition. “They see that hospitals are laying people off because they aren't busy and we're thankful that COVID-19 numbers are low but there are other things that need to be addressed like cancer screenings. They don’t think science is supporting a continued lockdown and they want to get on with their lives.”
As of May 24, there were 6,943 positive coronavirus cases statewide and 317 fatalities, according to the New Mexico Department of Health dashboard.
Although Wayne Brooks, owner of SalteyDogg Metal Fab, is satisfied with Gov. Grisham’s performance, he would like to see easing of restrictions for all small businesses.
“There's a lot of information out there and that's how we've made our business decisions,” Brooks told the New Mexico Business Daily. “Every morning we come to work and wipe all common surfaces with bleach water. All of my employees wear gloves, face shields, safety goggles and masks.”
SalteyDogg Metal Fab, a manufacturer, is considered an essential business, but Brooks decided to take his business outdoors rather than continue to entertain customers inside his building for safety’s sake.
“By our own choice, we haven't had a person in the building in more than 60 days,” said Brooks, a cancer survivor. “We set up a tent outside of the building along with a table and chairs and we conduct all of our business from the tent. My employees adore it because they feel safe and not have to worry about somebody dragging something into the building that we can't control or identify but my customers had a hard time with it the first two weeks.”
The New Mexico Business Coalition survey included responses from 1,100 people throughout the state. Unsolicited comments from people who responded to the poll anonymously included the following:
“Believe Governor Grisham is unbridled with power and is making uneducated policy decisions in the name of public health.”
“I believe the Governor put too many restrictions on small business. Small businesses including mine were perfectly capable of social distancing measures sanitizing all areas of importance. Her actions caused many issues financial issues and cause for gaining debt with PPP and other assistance.”
“The number of studies showing that wearing masks can have a negative affect on a person's health completely contradicts her mandate on 16 May that any time you're in a public place you must have a mask on. Governor Wuhan is all about power and she's relishing her ability to destroy our constitutional rights. We no longer have a governor; we have a queen who is ruling as a dictator with the state police acting as her KGB.”