This weekend, Albuquerque police recorded the city’s 100th homicide. The city has recorded several deadly weekends, including three people shot and killed in less than 30 hours last weekend. This is the highest number of homicides in history — with most of them being firearm homicides.
To assist state and local governments, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) into law in March, authorizing $350 billion in funding for governments to counter the economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic. States, cities and counties can utilize ARP funds to counter surges in gun violence and support gun violence intervention programs performing essential public health work. More on how New Mexico could use these funds is available here.
Research on violence intervention programs have shown to reduce gun violence in communities disproportionately impacted. This upcoming legislative session, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers will be working with community partners to urge lawmakers to allocate funding for violence prevention and intervention programs across the state.
Additional legislative actions can also be taken to address gun violence in the city. Lawmakers should focus on passing secure storage legislation. Secure storage can save lives by preventing unintentional shootings, gun suicides, and school shootings which protect New Mexican children from gun violence. Right now, gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and teens in the state.
Every year, over 415 people die by guns in New Mexico and over 879 more are wounded. New Mexico has the seventh highest rate of gun deaths in the country. Gun violence costs New Mexico $3.1 billion each year, of which $131.9 million is paid by taxpayers. More information about gun violence in the state is available here.
