Gun Violence Prevention Program
Free cable gun locks are available for all New Mexicans and any local organizations interested in distributing cable gun locks to their communities.
To get your free gun lock, please fill out the Gun Lock Request Form.
Firearm safety can be summarized into three simple actions:
- Lock up your firearms and keep them out of reach of children
- Keep your guns and ammunition in separate, secure locations.
- Talk about gun safety with your friends, family, and neighbors.
Why is violence prevention important?
Firearm injuries and deaths continue to pose a serious public health problem in the United States and in New Mexico.
In 2023, New Mexico was fifth in the nation for gun-related deaths. There were 530 deaths from firearms that year, and in 2024, 60% of those deaths were ruled as suicides.
The estimated cost of gun injuries and deaths for New Mexicans totals $5.81 billion dollars every year. And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Report on Firearm Behaviors, in 2022, 38% of New Mexico residents (1) own a firearm, (2) have a child under the age of 18 living in their home, and (3) store their firearm loaded and unlocked.
In 2024, firearms overtook motor vehicle injury to be the number one cause of death for New Mexico youth between 1 and 17 years old.
Our current prevention framework efforts focus on public education on firearm safety practices, safe storage practices, temporary restrictive access to firearms, and community-level interventions.
Like many successful preventative efforts, Stokes et al. (2021) found that the earlier an intervention into the lives of youth on healthy behaviors and safe relations, the lower their chances of being impacted by gun violence. The research of Bandel et al. (2024) found that proper storage – utilizing cable locks among others – noticeably lowered the rates of firearm injury and deaths among all members of a household.
Red flag laws, or as they are known in New Mexico: Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Orders, have proven to be useful in temporarily removing firearms from those who prove a risk to themselves or others (Hollo et al. 2022). And when a community comes together to share support and responsibility on safe and responsible firearm ownership, Sharer et al. (2025) saw improvements to protective factors across demographics and populations, not just as they relate to firearms.
It is due to these troubling realities that gun violence prevention programming was added to NMDOH’s Office of Injury and Violence Prevention. To lower the rates of firearm injuries and deaths throughout New Mexico, evidence-based efforts are supported through the work of community partners, and free services are available to all residents in the state of New Mexico.
References
Stokes, S., McFadden, N., Salcedo E., & Beres, A. (2021) Firearm Injuries in Children: a Missed Opportunity for Firearm Safety Education. Injury Prevention, 27: 554-559.
Bandel, S., Moceri-Brooks, J., & Bond, A. (2024) US Residents' Recognition of Proper Use of Firearm Cable Locks. JAMA Network Open, 7(6): e2415064.
Hollo, A., VanderStoep, A., & Frattaroli, S. (2022) Physicians Perspectives on Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) in the Clinical Setting: Challenges and Opportunities for Gun Violence Prevention. PLoS ONE 17(9): e0274489.
Sharer, M., Duffy, M., Tientjen, G., LeShoure, T., Golden, J., & Cisne-Durbin, N. (2025) Community Gun Violence Prevention. The Lancet Regional Health-Americas, Jan 8; 43:100990.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Morbidity and Mortality Report, Firearm Storage Behaviors, 2024
Provisional data from the Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics (last accessed on 08/22/2025)
ESSENSE 2025
CDC WONDER