By Sydney Cook
Gun violence at schools across America has certainly been on the rise, including right at the heart of our state. Albuquerque Public Schools have seen an increase in gun incidents post-covid.
The first indicator of an increase of gun violence to APS was the on-campus shooting death of Washington Middle School student Bennie Hargrove in 2021. It continued into 2022 with a shooting at West Mesa High School.
This year, APS has received 19 school shooting threats across 2022-2023 and confiscated 12 guns.
West Mesa High School in southwest Albuquerque has felt the impact of gun and weapon usage on campus more than most. In early March, West Mesa went through yet another incident concerning a weapon, just barely outside of their campus. Principal Michelle Torres, a native New Mexican who has been working in education for 30 years, said most WMHS gun issues happen off campus. Although there have been two gun confiscations at West Mesa this year, Torres said they were handled without incident.
Torres is a firm believer that gun violence is a societal issue: “It isn’t something that is exclusive to WMHS, APS, or even the City of Albuquerque. It is happening all around us.”
Gun-violence prevention starts at home and educators need to provide a safer environment for students, Torrse said:“Students need to have someone at school who they trust enough to report anything to.”
Mental health plays a huge part and that schools need better resources to address that aspect of many incidents.
With the rise of gun violence across APS, the district has been collaborating more with the Albuquerque Police Department. “APS doesn’t have the resources they need to handle the issues we are seeing on our campuses, so I appreciate the fact they are working more closely with APD,” Torres said.
On par with APS and APD collaboration, APS’s own police have some of their own opinions. Officer James Klein, who works at La Cueva High School and has been in law enforcement for 35 years, said that he really can’t figure out why there is such a rise in weapon use in schools across APS.
Klein shared personal experiences which helped explain the importance of locking up guns in the home, which he thinks is a leading factor to guns on campus.
“I used to not lock up my service weapon, but I have a granddaughter who's 1 year old,
and she's very, very curious with what I do so, of course, I started locking it up too now,” his reasoning behind this has a lot to do with The Benny Hargrove Gun Safety Act. Klein agreed that people with guns in the home should always lock them up, no matter the ages of children.
Klein makes a very strong point about gun expectations coming from the parents to the children and how they absolutely need to be taught, “If you're gonna have guns in the house, teach your kids” he then added on, “No one teaches you how to deal with weapons around the house with kids. … You have to be willing to learn yourself.”
Here in APS, security is sparse and Klein admitted it does make him feel uncomfortable. He explained that even if a school environment doesn’t come across as threatening, something could happen any moment. Klein said that APD and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office are looking further into strengthening safety, whether it’s weapon detectors or simply hiring more security.
La Cueva Principal Dana Lee said that APS has taken many steps to stop gun violence. Lee said that she has seen and heard about gun violence across APS schools in her 29 years of education, but has yet to experience it firsthand.
Lee believes the influence of drug use leads to weapon use. “I think it’s mostly a drug and gang thing,” she said. “Kids who are affiliated with a certain group of people and want to be seen and earn the respect of those people, will do anything to earn that respect.”
A bill recently passed in honor of Bennie Hargrove might help, Lee said. The new state law requires guns to be locked up securely if there are children in the home. Lee could not stress enough the importance of how much educators need to value students’ safety. “At the end of the day, a student’s safety is my number one priority,” she said. “People debate, ‘No, your priority is a student's education.’ But in reality, if a student doesn’t feel safe or protected, their ability to learn will decrease.”
A lot of factors have led to the increase in gun use, Lee said: “Kids need to feel a connection to something or somebody, and they're not getting that connection in healthy ways.” She spoke about how the breakdown of personal connections, leading to weapon usage, begins in families, whether it's due to drug use, over-work, or just simple disconnection. “Kids bringing guns to school are hurting, because they haven't made a genuine connection with somebody…”
She believes that guns are 100 percent used to garner respect and to fit in. “Everything a teenager does, at the end of the day, is about belonging or fitting in,” she said.
People often stereotype gun users, Lee said, but she doesn’t buy it. “I think there could be a perceived stereotype,” she said, “but with weapons and intent to use a weapon… any race, religion, or socioeconomic class has the potential of using a gun with poor intent.”
Everyone's question now is what are we seriously doing to prevent gun violence across APS? The district is looking into a weapons-prevention system for use in the near future, in hopes it will help them to be more proactive in identifying weapons on campus. Although it is a sadly needed precaution, it might insure students safety and hopefully prevent further incidents in the future.