Many Democrats in the Land of Enchantment have tried to pin the blame for the state’s high rate of juvenile violence on lawful gun owners, starting with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. It was Grisham who tried to ban lawful concealed carry throughout the city of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County back in 2023, pointing to the shootings of several juveniles as justification for preventing adults from bearing arms in self-defense.
Though Lujan Grisham’s carry ban is now defunct, juvenile crime is still an issue. This past week the House Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee held a hearing on juvenile crime, and the good news is that adding additional gun control wasn’t a big topic of conversation. The bad news, though, is that the Democrats in control of the state legislature still don’t appear willing to get tough on violent offenders under the age of 18.
In a bizarre move, the committee declined to hear from the front-line prosecutors who actually handle these cases when they go to court; a move criticized by at least one district attorney as well as Republican lawmakers on the committee.
Committee Chair Rep. Christine Chandler pushed back and said the committee has heard from prosecutors before.
“We heard from DA Bregman on this issue, we heard, actually last month on the issue of juvenile crime, from the head of the DA’s association so this an opportunity for the members to get another perspective,” Chandler said.
Chandler expressed her support for diversion programs and spoke against past testimony from prosecutors on the issue.
“What we heard a lot today is diversion programs, other types of programs are evidence based and actually address juvenile crime as opposed to the perspective we have routinely heard on multiple occasions from the DAs that…their, their constant discussion point is increase penalties, we know that doesn’t work so we want to hear other perspectives,” Chandler said.
“We know that doesn’t work.”
How does Chandler know that? And how does Chandler know that diversion programs, which are aimed at keeping young violent offenders away from juvenile detention, do work?
There is some evidence that diversion programs have some real benefit for low-level and first-time offenders, but Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman says his office is dealing with juveniles who are committing very serious offenses, including murder.
Bregman said that since 2023, his office has charged 88 juveniles with murder, including 15 this year alone. He said that the current law needs serious reform. “When a family is told that the juvenile who killed their loved one at the age of 17 and a half is only going to be in custody until they’re 21 because that’s the law. That’s not an acceptable circumstance for that family,” said Bregman.
Look, I’m glad that Democratic lawmakers have put gun control on the back burner, at least for the next couple of months. I’m sure that when the 2027 legislative session rolls around they’ll once again be pushing for gun and magazine restrictions, storage mandates, “gun-free zones,” and other efforts that will have a much bigger impact on lawful gun owners than violent teens who aren’t old enough to legally possess a gun to begin with.
But if these lawmakers refuse to get tough on the most violent youthful offenders and instead look for ways to keep them away from incarceration, then they’re only making the problem worse. And when these teens who’ve received relatively light sentences as juveniles reach adulthood, many of them are going to be left with the impression that the criminal justice system lacks teeth, and that they’ll continue to get away with their crimes with just a slap on the wrist.
Bregman says he’s charged 15 juveniles with murder this year alone. According to the city’s latest statistics, there’ve been 32 homicides so far this year. That’s down from 42 homicides at the same point in 2025, but it also means that under-18s are believed to be responsible for almost half of the killings in the city.
While juvenile crime has been surging over the past few years, a report issued by the state’s Legislative Finance Committee last November found some serious issues with the juvenile justice system.
They found that the severity of the crimes has increased. Data shows there are more juvenile cases of aggravated assaults, weapons on school campuses, and violence. In 2024, there were 7,634 reports of kids under the age of 18 committing crimes. Two-thirds are informally handled by the Children, Youth and Families department rather than the court system. “CYFD largely is responsible for the youth juvenile justice system,” said Dr. Rachel Garcia, Deputy Director and Program Evaluator, LFC.
LFC presenters also shared that there are fewer juvenile detention centers in the state than there were before 2020. They report that centers are not at full capacity because there are staffing shortages. They also said it costs $690,000 in taxpayers’ dollars to hold a juvenile in CYFD custody for two years. One lawmaker noted how expensive detention facilities can be. “Our kiddos in this community in the capital of Santa Fe are being transported all the way to San Juan, we’re renting seven beds, that’s $1.8 million,” said Senator Linda Trujillo (D-Santa).
It’s absolutely nuts that the state is paying nearly $350,000 a year to put a juvenile offender behind bars. Lawmakers need to bend those costs downward, but they cannot use that as an excuse to keep repeat offenders in the community at large… or a reason to go after lawful adult gun owners instead of addressing the real issue of juvenile crime.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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