ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Has the tough talk about holding those accountable for bringing guns on school campuses turned into action so far this school year?

KOB 4 is digging into the numbers, comparing incidents so far this year to last year, and where those cases stand.

According to numbers from Albuquerque Public Schools, West Mesa High School is one of nine campuses where law enforcement has found guns so far this school year. 

APS and DA Sam Bregman agree even one gun is unacceptable, and they’re both committed to long-term change.

“It’s everybody’s worst nightmare, the idea of a gun on a school campus,” said Bregman. 

That worst nightmare has come true 13 times. This school year, 13 incidents have resulted in 15 arrests at middle and high schools across Albuquerque. That’s compared to 14 incidents and 17 arrests during all of last school year. 

“If you bring a gun on campus, I don’t care if you’re 14 years old, or 40 years old, we will ask for an arrest warrant, we will get an arrest warrant we’ll arrest you, and we’ll do our best to hold you accountable,” said Bregman. 

Bregman has been working to enforce a zero tolerance policy since early 2023, months after he took office. 

“There’s nothing more dangerous than you can describe to me than the idea of a gun on campus,” Bregman said. 

KOB 4 asked for the status of the cases so far this school year, to see if that enforcement is working. The district attorney’s office says nine cases are still ongoing and nine other cases have been resolved.

In three of those resolved cases, the state asked for jail time. In one case, the judge gave two years probation while another went to trial and ended with one year of probation for the defendant. Only one ended in jail time.

The maximum penalty for a juvenile bringing a gun on campus is two years in the Youth Detention Center. 

“This isn’t a criticism of any particular decision or any particular judge. But overall, I do believe we need to hold our young people more accountable. And more accountable means if you do bring a gun on campus, that you are going to face certain consequences. And we’re not seeing the kind of consequences that we want to see,” said Bregman.  

Bregman believes ongoing discussions with students and changes to the state’s children’s code will go a long way. 

“That was developed in the 1970s. In the 1970s, when I was in high school, there weren’t a lot of kids bringing guns on campuses. Now that’s changed dramatically. So our children’s code needs to change dramatically,” Bregman said. “If we don’t do that, if we don’t have those discussions, then we’re not going to see improvements, because there’s so much work to be done on this issue.”

We asked for an interview with APS police Tuesday to talk about the investigation process, and how the department is staying prepared for these incidents. 

No one was available, but a representative said they take threats seriously and investigate each one thoroughly.

An APS spokesperson sent the following statement to KOB 4 Tuesday, saying:

“We’ve seized fewer guns on our campuses so far this year compared to last year, but any gun brought into a school is unacceptable. We go out of our way to encourage everyone at our schools to reach out to us or a trusted adult if they see or hear anything about guns in schools or other safety threats. The APS Police Department takes all safety threats seriously. They investigate each one thoroughly, request safety assessments when merited, and work with the DA and our law enforcement partners to keep our campuses safe.”