EDITORIAL: We know there's a problem with guns in schools. Let's put an end to it

So, we have an ongoing problem in Albuquerque of teens wandering around our city and schools packing illegal guns.

While we debate the governor’s health order barring the legal, constitutional carry in public (now parks and playgrounds), authorities have so far failed to get tough on youth sneaking guns in schools and carrying them around from class to class concealed on their persons or in backpacks.

It’s already illegal in New Mexcio for a person under 19 years of age to possess a handgun. But instead of a get-tough approach, there are a variety of diversion programs for these young offenders. It’s almost unbelievable that people brazenly breaking the law are given a gentle tap on the wrist. Untrained youth hopped up on hormones and maybe drugs, carrying beefs with other youths inside a closed building all day, is a recipe for disaster. And those disasters have been unfolding.

A shooting or gunfight in a closed space with many people strolling to a class or sitting around is sure to be a disaster. Yet for violators of gun laws, programs are offered, rather than certain punishment.

Some of these shootings are etched in the community’s memory.

2021: A 13-year-old student was fatally shot by another 13-year-old at a local middle school.

2022: A 14-year-old was shot by his classmate outside a high school during a fight over a ghost gun.

2023: A school custodian was shot after asking a couple teen trespassers on middle school grounds to leave, an incident that left the school district shaken, according to Superintendent Scott Elder.

And most recently, a 16-year-old was shot by another teen while playing with a gun in a school’s parking lot.

There are plenty of other youth-perpetrated shootings occurring in places other than schools: Car drive-bys, club parking lots and even strip clubs. And there are cases of guns being found in backpacks before anyone gets hurt.

There are varying opinions on how to deal with this teens-carrying-guns-into-schools problem. Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman and Attorney General Raúl Torrez are on the right track. Bregman wants to find out where these young people are getting their illegal guns and Torrez has called for the state to be more proactive. He summed up the situation when he said the state has “no coherent strategy for responding to a young person who brings a gun to school.”

Torrez hits it on the head when describing the outcome of current policies: It “demonstrates to our young people that there are no consequences for bringing a gun to school.”

Those who disagree aren’t seeing reality as it is. How about posing these questions to the new APS superintendent candidates: How do you stand on weapons in schools here? How would you stop it? Would intervention programs that provide therapeutic tutoring be as far as you’re willing to go for students caught with guns in school? What would you say to parents to ease their minds about the clear and present dangers of guns at schools?

We’re not suggesting doing away with alternatives to hard punishment, but rather finding that balance between tough and helpful. Someone somewhere, most likely in academia, is seeing armed youth as victims in need of help, rather than lawbreakers who may go on to cause serious trouble. That’s not the kind of superintendent we need right now.

Would the APS superintendent be in favor of installing security measures, like metal detectors at entrances? None exist now. In the past, APS executives have mumbled about tradition and too many entrances when asked why there are no metal detectors. Enough is enough.

Data provided by the state’s Children, Youth and Families Department revealed that nearly 90 juveniles were detained statewide on firearms-related charges since the implementation of the governor’s public health order. That’s strong evidence that no more excuses and clever answers will suffice regarding the safety of our young people. The public won’t stand for it.

After all these warnings, if there’s a major disaster, the public will demand accountability and consequences. For the sake of all the innocents, let’s not let up and allow lawbreakers, young or old, to run the table.