With the country coming to grips with another school shooting, this one in Nashville, lawmakers in New Mexico and across the country are again under pressure to do more to prevent mass shootings.
Police say the Nashville school shooter legally bought seven firearms in recent years and hid the guns from her parents before the attack Monday at The Covenant Christian elementary school where suspect Audrey Hale killed three children and three adults.
Hale was a former student at the school. Police say Hale was under a doctor’s care for an undisclosed emotional disorder but was not on their radar before the attack.
The tragedy has again brought school shootings into the spotlight.
Following a bill signing at a Santa Fe elementary school a few hours after the attack, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham expressed her heartbreak over yet another mass shooting and reiterated her request for the legislature to bring her a bill banning assault weapons in the state.
“Grade schools (shootings) are uniquely troubling to any American and anyone in the world. I don’t understand it,” she said. “It again tells me that I’m right to continue to ask the legislature to ban assault weapons to be really clear that mass murder continues and we should be doing everything in our power to minimize, prevent and eradicate it. So expect that to be on my call for the (2024) 30-day session.”
Lawmakers in Washington were quick to respond as well.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham echoed what the majority of his party has been saying about furthering security in schools across the country. He also talked about the need of keeping guns out of the hands of people who are criminals or mentally unstable.