TURNING FEAR INTO ACTION
Three organizations working to keep kids safe from gun violence
During April last year, my middle school was placed under lockdown. Police officers came to our school but never confirmed any threats. By the time we were released, it was five minutes after the end of the official school day.
The moments we were learning, along with the rest of Santa Fe, what was happening were agonizing, making it dawn on us the gravity of our situation. Being stuck in the classroom, cramped in the corner, it felt like there was a mile between each of us emotionally. It’s sad to say we were lucky.
It’s a sad reality that youth in America face everyday: When we walk into school, our lives could be at risk. Since 2018, Education Week has recorded 192 school shootings across the U.S. that have caused injury or death. With ill intention, we could lose our life in a corner of a classroom while school staff are asked to protect us at the risk of their own lives.
In and out of school, however, 23 children and teens are shot in the U.S. every day, according to averages compiled by United Against Gun Violence using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from 2017-21. In New Mexico in 2020, of the 479 deaths by guns, 41 were children, according to a fact sheet used by the Legislature.
Gun violence has been a controversial topic in the U.S. for years, leading some to advocate for stricter controls on guns and others to argue it won’t solve the problem. But with data like New Mexico’s, it’s hard to see why people wouldn’t want to take action. Here are three organizations that are trying to prevent another gun violence tragedy by educating the public and advocating for change.
Sandy Hook Promise
Founded by grieving parents Nicole Hockley, Mark Barden and Bill Sherlach in the wake of the deadly mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Sandy Hook Promise is a prominent gun violence prevention organization. On Dec. 14, 2012, 20-yearold Adam Lanza shot through the front doors at Sandy Hook Elementary, firing 154 gunshots in less than five minutes and killing 26 people — 20 children and six staff members. Hockley lost her 6-year-old son Dylan. Barden lost his 7-year-old son Daniel. Sherlach lost his wife, a 56-year-old school psychologist. Their organization now gathers and shares information on gun violence and mental health, releases public service announcements about gun violence, and creates programs such as Say Something, an anonymous reporting system that’s used by Santa Fe Public Schools.
Sandy Hook Promise played a massive role in supporting the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which passed after the Robb Elementary School shooting in 2022 in Uvalde, Texas, and made several changes to gun control at the federal level, including expanding the age requirements for background checks on gun purchases. It was the first federal gun control bill to pass in 28 years.
Lives Robbed
Parents of victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, founded Lives Robbed in 2022. Members of the organization urge people to vote for “commonsense gun laws,” such as raising age requirements on purchasing some semi-automatic rifles. Through this organization, shooting survivor Caitlyn Gonzales has also spoken publicly about her experiences and those of her friends who did not survive. While Gonzales was eventually evacuated from her classroom May 24, 2022, her best friend, 9-year-old Jackie Cazares, was not. Cazares was one of 21 people killed in the shooting perpetrated by an 18-year-old former student of the school.
“I shouldn’t have to be here, speaking. I am only 10 years old. But I am because my friends have no voice no more,” Gonzales said tearfully during a rally outside the Texas Capitol in February 2023.
New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence
Since 2013, New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence has been trying to educate the public on the high emotional and financial costs of gun violence and promoting reasonable gun laws. The organization has done a lot of work around the state to educate the public and lawmakers. New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence also has some violence prevention programs, including a mural project and a “Guns to Gardens” gun buyback program. Through Guns to Gardens, guns bought back from the community are dismantled and upcycled into gardening tools and art pieces, according to the organization’s website.