IN THE CRACK-UP, F. SCOTT FITZGERALD notes that the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
Miranda has that in spades. On one side, she believes she can change things and works overtime to do everything she can to locally fight the scourge of unregulated guns and assault weapons.
At the same time, she deeply knows that these efforts are limited, that shootings are getting more frequent and egregious, and that very powerful forces tell her – in every imaginable way – that she will fail.
How did you get involved with guns?
I was working on my PhD at UNM, and Sandy Hook happened. I had kids that were close to that age. I didn’t understand who would shoot up a classroom of six-year-olds.
I was extremely upset and angry for three weeks, and then I finally thought, Well, then do something, get to work. So, in 2013, a group of us started New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence.
Now we have several thousand members. When we started, I didn’t even know what the acronym NRA stood for. I knew nothing about guns. Now I know a lot about guns.
What was the first thing you did?
The first law we went after was closing the gun show loophole, which means that when somebody goes to a gun show, they would have to pass a background check in order to buy a firearm.
It actually went through the House and Senate, which was a miracle. Then it was filibustered by a Democrat who did his bidding with the NRA. So we learned that this was not going to be an easy fight.
New Mexico is a gun-loving culture. Even Democrats were not on our side, so we had to gain trust. At first, everybody thought we were here to take away their God-given right to own a firearm. It was one door slammed after another.
So we started a program called the Student Pledge Against Gun Violence, created by a woman who lives here part-time, who had been doing this since the 1990s. That program got us in schools. And we started working with kids to sign the pledge. We invited our mayors, city council members, elected officials, the news, law enforcement. Suddenly, we were all in the same room talking about gun violence. We began to gain people’s trust.
We also saw that there were way too many firearms in New Mexico. New Mexico has one of the highest rates of gun ownership and some of the weakest gun laws. That results in the fourth highest rate of gun violence in the country. We lose almost three children every month to gun violence.
In New Mexico, the totals deaths from gun violence are almost half and half between homicide and suicide. When I talk to kids who have shot and killed people, I ask, How are you getting your guns? They say, Snapchat, Instagram.
So we started a program called Guns to Gardens, which is now becoming a national program. We do buybacks, no questions asked, and we give people grocery and gas cards.
We do $100 for a pistol or a long gun; $200 for a semi-automatic handgun or rifle; and $250 for an assault weapon, like an AK-47 or AR-15. We’ve taken in 1,037 firearms.
We have a chop saw right there, and we dismantle them on site. Then I drive the parts to the Mennonites in Colorado who literally forge them into gardening tools.
Beautiful. Is it working?
Close to 70% of the people returning their firearms are doing so for safety reasons. We had one person bring in 15 assault weapons. He had a newborn. He said, I don’t ever want to worry that these guns will get into unsafe hands. I know I’m not getting the value that they’re worth, but I know you guys are gonna chop them up. We just did an event in Albuquerque where a guy brought in an AK-47 and said, I’m making a statement to all owners of assault weapons that we need to do this. Washington’s not going to.
What other programs are you doing?
We started a program working with youth who were victims of gun violence or had committed gun violence – sometimes both. It was called Murals to End Gun Violence. We facilitated gun violence prevention murals in schools, rehabs, and community centers – all facilitated by Warren Montoya from Rezonate Art.
One school mural said Drop your gun, pick up your pencil. These are consistent messages of non-violence and peace.
Another program is handing out thousands of free gun locks. The New Mexico Department of Health is now working with us, paying for the gun locks as long as we distribute them throughout the state. Amazingly, in some areas, even handing out a gun lock is controversial.
And then another program is around legislation. We hired an attorney to start training law enforcement, domestic violence workers, and mental health workers on how to implement a law we passed.
This law was about getting guns out of the hands of domestic violence offenders under protective orders. That was a very heavy lift. I thought that’d be the easiest law; I mean, Who wants a domestic violence offender to have a firearm? But the sheriffs came out really strong against it. But we worked and worked and worked. This current administration has been courageous on gun laws, and we finally got it.
You’re doing something very concrete and tangible. But how do you feel when we keep getting these waves of shootings?
There were 10 mass shootings this weekend. It’s heartbreaking. It’s hard. And it’s heavy. Something like Uvalde or Tops Market happens and you think, This will never end.
But what a lot of people don’t understand is that we are making baby steps. When we go to a rural area just to hand out gun locks and people get mad at us, we know that we’ve started a conversation. These are baby steps.
But we look at where we were in 2013 – when doors were constantly slammed in our faces from the left and right – compared to now, and we have shifted the culture in New Mexico. So you roll up your sleeves and keep working. And sometimes it doesn’t feel like you can work any harder. I work 60 hours a week on this issue, and it’s beyond frustrating when folks care more about their second amendment rights than they do about the safety of children.
How many assault guns are there in the US?
Over 400 million. The average gun owner has five firearms.
How do you protect yourself if you don’t have a gun? Say you don’t want a gun, but somebody shows up with a gun?
It so seldom happens. People rarely rob houses when the owner is home. I don’t have a gun and, believe me, I have so many targets on my back from these folks that are so mad about what I’m doing. But the last thing I want is a gun.
And if you have a gun, are you really trained? Your hands are gonna be shaking, you might hurt yourself, or maybe the intruder grabs your gun and shoots you. It’s just a ridiculous argument.
But if you’re a law-abiding citizen and not a convicted felon and aren’t suffering from mental illness or substance use problems, go ahead, keep your darn semi-automatic handgun in your home. I don’t think it’s gonna make you any safer, but I don’t have a beef with that as long as you’re safe with it. When parents don’t lock up their guns and those guns get into the hands of a child, I do think they need to be held accountable. And we’re going after that law in this next session; it’s called Child Access Prevention. People say, That’s so cruel. They’ve already lost their child. I don’t care. You didn’t lock up your gun. You go to jail. We need to hold gun owners responsible when they don’t lock up their guns.
Should teachers have guns?
No. Teachers should not have firearms. They are trained to teach, not deal with a shooter. In the states that are allowing this, we’ve seen more accidents with the teachers. I mean, what country are we living in where a kindergarten teacher has a firearm on their hip? That is so wrong on so many levels. This is warfare training.
You know, if we were just dealing with hunters, it would be fine. Hunters are usually the safest gun owners. They lock up their guns. We have no problem with hunters. We have a lot of hunters in our membership. We’re just about making sure guns are in safe hands.
What are possible uses for assault weapons?
You have ranchers in New Mexico saying, We need them to kill coyotes. Well, you don’t need an assault weapon to kill coyotes. You really don’t. There is no reason. There is absolutely no reason for us to have these. They’re not even good for home protection, if that’s what you believe in – they shoot through walls.
How do you deal with “I need to have an assault weapon because it’s my right”?
Are we allowed to have ballistic missiles? Are we allowed to own grenades?
How do you live with what you’re doing and have a normal life in Santa Fe?
Probably not well [laughter]. When you get too involved in gun violence prevention, you get tunnel vision. It’s hard to see anything else because that’s all you’re thinking and doing all day. I don’t think it’s the healthiest way to live, to be honest.
But I play the piano. And I grow vegetables and enjoy time with family and friends. And I do truly enjoy the nature we’re surrounded by. It helps me get off the wheel.
Learn more at newmexicanstopreventgunviolence.org
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