ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – In December 2020, Sally Sanchez had to do something no parent should. 

“He was my baby, he was a mama’s boy. But he was kind, and loving, giving, his laugh was contagious, his smile,” said Sanchez. 

Instead of getting ready for Christmas, she was planning a funeral for her son, Antonio Jaramillo.

“He was 32 years old when five repeat offenders of our judicial system decided to go into his home and rob him and murder him,” Sanchez said.  

Ever since, she and her sidekick, Tony Bear, have supported hundreds of other families going through the same pain through advocacy group New Mexico Crusaders for Justice. 

Tony Bear carries a recording of her son’s voice:

“I’ll call you tomorrow morning before you go to work, K? Love you.”

“That was one of my last voicemails that I had from him,” said Sanchez. 

Sanchez hopes a first of its kind advisory from our country’s top doctor Tuesday gives more victims a voice. 

U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, declared gun violence a public health crisis. But Sanchez is not holding her breath.

“I was a little surprised, right? It didn’t do much here when our governor did it, so I don’t see it doing much for our whole United States,” Sanchez said. 

She’s talking about when Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a public health emergency on gun violence last September, after the deadly shooting of 11-year-old Froylan Villegas. 

That order temporarily banned firearms in public places in Bernalillo County, but it got shot down in court.

“Honestly I laughed because the only people that she’s hurting are the law-abiding citizens, the ones who are out there committing these crimes they’re not law-abiding citizens,” said Sanchez. 

In recent years, our state lawmakers passed a handful of gun-related bills, including the red flag law, banning guns near polling places, and a seven-day waiting period to purchase guns. 

But Sanchez says she’s been pushing for more laws aimed at accountability. 

“Let’s change the laws already on the books and let’s hold these criminals accountable. They know they can get away with it here, especially the juveniles. Right now, they know they can get away with it,” said Sanchez. 

The upcoming special session will include a bill to increase punishment for felons in possession of a firearm. But Sanchez says it doesn’t go far enough. 

“We the parents who have our children taken, we’re the ones with the life sentence,” said Sanchez. 

With that advisory, Murthy is calling on Congress to pass new gun regulations including a ban on automatic rifles, universal background checks for buying guns, and penalties for people who fail to securely store their guns. He’s also asking for more gun violence research.