When New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham allowed her "emergency" public health order banning concealed carry in parks and playgrounds in Albuquerque and the surrounding Bernalillo County, she said the city and county had made significant progress in curbing "gun violence" during the year-long state of emergency. 

There's no indication that local police in Albuquerque, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office, or the New Mexico State Police ever arrested or cited any lawful concealed carry holder for bearing arms in the affected parks and playgrounds, so any reduction in the violent crime rate can't be credited to the governor's anti-gun moves. 

I suspect that Lujan Grisham ended her declared public health emergency in an effort to moot the multiple lawsuits challenging her carry ban, and the actual crime stats in Albuquerque had little to do with her decision. In fact, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina says juvenile crime has increased over the past year; part of a trend going back to at least 2020. 

Chief Harold Medina said his department can’t arrest its way out of this problem and laws can only do so much. He said systemic changes starts in the household. “If kids feel they can get away with something and there are no consequences, why are they not going to do it or why are they going to stop?” said Chief Medina. 

Juvenile arrests are increasing each year. Over the last five years, Albuquerque police arrested or cited 2,600 adolescents ages 11 to 17.

“I wonder how many individuals were released that we could not book an arrest because they asked us just to forward the report and that juvenile probation will probably get a hold of these individuals,” said Chief Medina.

Like many law enforcement professionals across the country, Medina is concerned that the juvenile justice system is spitting troubled teens back onto the street without any consequences for their crimes... though he adds that there's only so much law enforcement can do. 

The chief spoke on the frustration his department has with this trend. “You’re under a microscope and all of a sudden, the person you did all this work to get into custody, you’re not even done doing paperwork and you’re being asked to release them because there’s not room anywhere to book them. And it is extremely frustrating,” said Chief Medina.

He said arresting kids doesn’t change the systemic problem. With the legislative session just months away, he’s asking lawmakers to tackle the problem from a new angle, forming a committee that addresses youth from the bottom up. “I hope that the state legislature, with all this extra money, can have the foresight to sit back and think how do we start building roadmaps to success and not just do patchwork,” Chief Medina said.

The governor, on the other hand, has repeatedly pushed the Democratic majority in Santa Fe to adopt California-style gun control laws, including waiting periods, bans on so-called assault weapons, and raising the age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21. Grisham has seen mixed success, with legislators adopting a 7-day waiting period (instead of the 14-day delay Grisham wanted) and banning guns near polling places (with an exception for licensed concealed carry holders) during the 30-day budget session earlier this year. 

Lujan Grisham hasn't announced her gun control plans for the 2025 session, but it sounds like Medina would prefer lawmakers focus on those most at risk of committing violent crimes instead of criminalizing lawful gun owners. The chief not only previously refused to enforce the governor's original edict that barred concealed carry throughout the city of Albuquerque, but called on lawmakers to bolster funding for police and prosecutors in order to vigorously pursue repeat offenders. 

Medina commented that APD has been dealing with “the same offenders, committing the same crimes every day.”

“We have improved investigations after being criticized by a top legislator, and we have charged over 200 murder suspects since then,” Medina said in the press release. “We created a team and moved it to the District Attorney’s Office to help with prosecutions. And we used money from the governor and the Legislature to boost incentives for officers, resulting in larger cadet academies. Finally, we have consistently advocated for increased funding, along with more accountability, for all other parts of the criminal justice system to ensure we are all doing everything possible to crack down on crime. But little has changed, because our jail sits half empty while repeat offenders are out on Albuquerque’s streets.”

Medina has also worked with New Mexicans Against Gun Violence on a voluntary "buyback" that was held back in August, which is not great. But when it comes to fighting violent crime, the chief at least seems to understand that the best way to do that is to go after the actual perpetrators instead of the governor's strategy of criminalizing the exercise of our Second Amendment rights. Let's hope lawmakers in Santa Fe agree, because Lujan Grisham is almost certain to demand another crackdown on lawful gun owners during the next legislative session.