Let's Get Guns Out Of The Hands Of Our Children

The latest tragic shooting of a 13-year-old boy by another 13-year-old boy at Washington Middle School is, yet again, a tragic reminder that gun owners need to lock up their guns and store their ammunition separately. But it will take more than that. We need to pass the Child Access Prevention law that New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence worked on with our student members since 2019. And, included in that law must be a provision that gun owners whose guns are involved in one of these tragic shootings are prohibited from owning a firearm again.  

It is no secret that that getting guns locked up is only part of the solution. Gun violence prevention demands a multipronged approach. That is why we are expanding our programs to include funding that will train Peer Intervention Specialists.  We are excited to partner with the Albuquerque Violence Intervention Program to help fund the training. These specialists are often men and women who have been in prison and/or involved with gun violence. They will be trained to speak with youth who may be headed down a similar path of gun violence. They will work to help these young people find a better road and, at the same time, direct them to the help and services they need.

But that is not all we have been up to this summer:

MURALS TO END GUN VIOLENCE

Honoring Vanessa:

We worked with students at South Valley Academy on our 9th gun violence prevention mural. This mural honors 16 year old Venessa Ordeñaz who was shot and killed on August 26, 2018 in Los Lunas, NM. Her murder is still unsolved. This portable mural will travel to schools where we will work with youth on gun violence prevention events as part of the Student Pledge Against Gun Violence. Warren Montoya from Rezonate Art is the facilitator of the mural.

Albuquerque International District Mural: 

We worked with community members to design a gun violence prevention mural that will honor the lives lost to gun violence in their community as well as celebrate the beauty and resilience of the International District. The wall that we were promised was taken away just when we were about to start painting. So… we made lemonade out of lemons and constructed our own wall in a better location on Zuni and Cardenas at the Endorphin Power Company. The mural will be finished mid-September. This will be our first augmented reality mural which will allow viewers to learn more about the issue of gun violence via a mobile app. Again, Warren Montoya from Rezonate Art is the facilitator.

EXTREME RISK FIREARM PROTECTION ORDERS: 
 
We have hired attorney Sheila Lewis to train mental health professionals, domestic violence prevention groups and law enforcement regarding the mechanics required to use the new ERFPO law to get guns out of unsafe hands. 
 
GUN SAFETY:
 
Gun lock Distribution. Thanks to a grant from the New Mexico Department of Public Health, New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence has purchased hundreds of gun locks and bilingual gun safety information pamphlets which we are distributing throughout New Mexico.
 
 GUNS TO GARDENS:
 
We a are headed to Taos in September for our next gun buyback.  Date to be announced. This will be our 12th gun buyback and the 3rd buyback in Taos.
 
IN THE NEWS:
 
Editorial: “As with COVID, we can fight gun violence as a public health crisis” https://bit.ly/3k65vwf
 
Read about our work with Santa Fe District Attorney’s office on ERFPO training here: https://bit.ly/3jWGxzg
 
TV coverage of South Valley Academy Mural:
 
Amazon Smile: if you shop on Amazon, please consider us as your charity of choice. It does not cost you a cent and a percentage of every sale is donated to New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence by AmazonSmile! That’s a good day! Simply go to this link and sign up. It takes less than two minutes. 
 
We cannot do this important work without your continued support. Please consider a donation to help us fund our lifesaving gun violence prevention programs.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
Dr. Rev. Harry Eberts and Miranda Viscoli,
Co-presidents of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence