89.9 FM Live From The University Of New Mexico
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

County Health Council To Host Gun Violence Talks

Thomas Drouault via Unsplash
/
Unsplash license

Recent mass shootings in El Paso and Ohio have locals looking for solutions to gun violence. Bernalillo County will host a series of community conversations on how to prevent people from shooting people.

 

“We’re hoping that community folks can think of community action that they can take to reduce violence in their community,” said Enrique Cardiel, director of the Bernalillo County Community Health Council.

More than 600 people in Bernalillo County died due to gun violence in the last four years, according to data from the state Department of Health. More than half of those deaths were suicides. A quarter were people shooting other people.

Cardiel said the heavy presence of New Mexico State Police in southwest Albuquerque also has folks nervous about police shootings.

 

The first community meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 4 at the Health Council's Office in Albuquerque. Organizers say they are not inviting law enforcement so people can feel comfortable to speak honestly.

 

***

Where: 220 Adams St SE, Suite A, Albuquerque. 

When: 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 on Wednesday, Sept. 4.

 

Future meetings can be found at the Bernalillo County Community Health Council's Facebook page.

 

***

 

Support for KUNM’s Public Health New Mexico project comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the McCune Charitable Foundation, and from KUNM listeners like you.

 

May joined KUNM's Public Health New Mexico team in early 2018. That same year, she established the New Mexico chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and received a fellowship from the Association of Health Care Journalists. She join Colorado Public Radio in late 2019.
Related Content