Gun violence in NM a public health epidemic

The 2016 numbers are in from the New Mexico Department of Health. Last year, 401 people were killed by gun violence in our Land of Enchantment. Eighty-five of those deaths were children. Yes, our children. Forty-two percent of those children were killed in homicides and 40.7 percent by suicide with a gun. Keep in mind that these numbers completely ignore the numerous New Mexicans who are injured by guns every year — which, if the national averages hold up, are three times as many people as those killed.

To put these numbers in perspective, in 2016, 173 people died in New Mexico as a result of DUI-related accidents. Appropriately, legislators have taken this problem seriously, and created programs that dedicate millions of dollars and significant resources every year to reducing DUIs. Yet, we are still waiting for any state resources to address gun violence.

Last year, when 405 New Mexicans died from gun violence, not a single penny was appropriated to address the problem. This, despite the fact that the burden continues to grow on taxpayers who pay for the long-term care of so many of the injured individuals that we do not even count.

New Mexico’s gun problem is a public health epidemic. Our elected officials no longer have the luxury of taking forever to decide if gun violence is an issue they will deign worthy of their time. And the wall of excuses that many of them hide behind has become increasingly repugnant. As civil servants, they are charged with the critical duty of passing legislation that safeguards our communities … and, most importantly, our children. Nearly eight dead children every month in our state from gun violence is utterly unacceptable.

Gun violence prevention needs to be a priority for both the Democratic and the Republican caucuses. Bullets, like viruses, are decidedly non-partisan. They could care less if you are a Democrat or a Republican, a senator or a representative, a second amendment champion or gun violence prevention advocate, an NRA lobbyist or a mother who has lost her daughter to gun violence. None of us are immune.

At New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, much of the work we do is with young people. We see first hand the devastating effect gun violence has on our children. They are frightened, sad and beyond frustrated that so little is being done to keep them safe.

In New Mexico, we have some of the weakest gun laws and highest rates of gun violence in the country — a correlation that is not a coincidence. There is a strong NRA presence here in New Mexico. Four of the 75 NRA national board members reside here. This is a disproportionately high number for a state with such a small population. In 2017, the NRA became one of the biggest political spenders in our state when it pumped $44,378 into stopping gun violence prevention legislation. Their stronghold on our legislative process is having devastating consequences.

Where are the voices that we expect to stand up and do the right thing? It is time to make this a voting issue. We need to call our legislators every week and ask what they have done to curb the New Mexican gun violence epidemic. If they refuse to make this a priority, we should find legislators who will.