NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – EEditor’s note: The article has been updated to correct that the Children’s Code would not change as part of the Attorney General’s proposal.

The New Mexico attorney general’s proposal to toughen penalties for school shooting threats comes as more than a dozen schools across the state have faced disruptive threats this year alone.

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Attorney General Raúl Torrez called it a bipartisan effort. The proposal would make threats to shoot from a felony to a fourth-degree felony. “You address a growing problem that we have in our community,” said AG Torrez.

Attorney General Torrez teamed up with school leaders and lawmakers for a possible legislative solution. “Unfortunately, in the state of New Mexico, we currently treat threats against our schools as misdemeanors, and I don’t think that’s consistent with where we are as a community,” Torrez said.

The new proposal would treat threats of mass shootings targeting large public spaces or schools as a misdemeanor instead of a felony. “Not everybody realizes the number of these types of reports that we get, whether it’s on social media, whether it’s by phone call or in person, but the impact it has is chaos, it’s causing chaos,” the chief said. Stewart Steele with the Rio Rancho Police Department.

In September, the Albuquerque Police Department said it had investigated 28 shooting threats at Albuquerque schools alone. About a dozen other threats have occurred at schools outside of Albuquerque.

Increasing the offense to a felony would allow police to more easily execute search warrants and better track misdemeanors in a juvenile’s record, compared to misdemeanors. “This is about us getting consequences for those who affect the entire community,” APD Chief Harold Medina.

The proposal would not change the punishment a juvenile can receive for the crime, but lawmakers hope it is a first step in holding people accountable for threats in a state that has seen the aftermath of school violence before. “Two precious students who were the victims of gun violence in their school by someone who made previous threats,” said Rep. Joy Garratt (D-Albuquerque).

Rep. Garratt said he plans to introduce the bill in the next 60-day legislative session starting in January. If lawmakers pass the bill, it could take effect in July.

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