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With gun legislation on the agenda for January’s New Mexico Legislature regular session, state Attorney General Raúl Torrez gathered Tuesday with law enforcement, educational leaders and a lawmaker to discuss the rise in mass shooting threats.
Torrez focused on threats to schools in Albuquerque, Cimarron, Clovis, Las Cruces, Raton, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Pojoaque and Taos received last month as a 60-day legislative session nears.
Indeed, Santa Fe Public Schools received two school shooting threats within a week of one another in September, but school security and the Santa Fe Police Department said they found no credible evidence of a threat.
Regardless, “anytime there is a threat online or over the phone, law enforcement has to respond because we know what tragedy may ensue from not responding is too great a risk to take,” Torrez said.
However, the current classification for such threats—a misdemeanor—is “not in line with who we are as a community,” he added. This led the New Mexico Department of Justice to work alongside Rep. Joy Garratt, D-Albuquerque, to craft legislation that increases the penalty by making it a fourth-degree felony offense.
Garratt will sponsor the bill in the upcoming legislative session. Torrez noted that such changes would also “make it easier for law enforcement to engage in investigations and search warrants” and “ensure prosecutors and district attorneys are aware this conduct is occurring.”
Garratt said she was “frankly feeling very emotional” about the rise in threats, noting a high school in west Bernalillo County—the area she represents—had an incident where a student brought a gun in a backpack and had another in his car.
“No child of any age should fear going to school because they may get shot,” Garratt said. “Our kids deserve to be kids.”
School and law enforcement officials echoed her sentiments, including Rio Rancho Public Schools Executive Director of Safety Sal Maniaci, who said it felt like schools received threats “weekly.” Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said he supported the change, but noted “no one item is going to decrease crime.”
Rather, “it’s about creating a system of accountability,” Medina said. “If we do nothing, nothing will change, and that’s what’s been done too many times.”
Garratt and Torrez said they considered the uptick and response “a bipartisan concern and effort,” and hoped legislators would back the proposal.
“I’m grateful to Rep. Joy Garratt for stepping up to champion this legislation and for her steadfast commitment to the safety and well-being of New Mexico’s families,” Torrez said. “Together, we’re sending a clear message: New Mexico will not tolerate threats that terrorize our communities and endanger our children.”
The 2025 legislative session is scheduled to begin January 21.
