Focus of Las Cruces school board safety meeting turns to guns

The focus of a three-hour-long joint session between the Las Cruces Public School District and the city of Las Cruces quickly turned to gun control in the district and the city on Wednesday.

“When we talk about restricting the weapons in people’s hands, we don’t necessarily mean that we are banning them,” said Councilor Greg Smith, who represents district two.

Dozens of gun activists protested Smith’s resolution to “better ensure the safety of students in Las Cruces schools” in March.

The councilor’s comments on Wednesday evening elicited boos from multiple members of the audience.

“In a civil society, we listen to each other,” Smith said.

“We need to be civil in this meeting,” echoed School Board President Ed Frank.

Eighteen public officials from the city and the school district sat on stage at Oñate High School, including the mayor, the city council and the school board.

One of the most applauded members on stage was Centennial High School junior Cameron Castillo.

“We need to make sure we’re including all aspects of school safety,” Castillo said, adding “you’re here to talk about how you’re going to keep me safe.”

“We do not want to turn our schools in to a war zone,” said board member Maria Flores. “(Our students) are not afraid of getting shot. They’re afraid of bullying. This is a much more insidious, violent thing happening in our schools.”

Audience members applauded board member Ray Jaramillo’s statement that schools need to “detangle the difference between school safety and a Second Amendment conversation.”

“I have to be enormously careful when we decide to arm someone in the building and when we put a gun in someone’s hand,” Ewing said.

Several audience members held signs, one of which read: “Nazis enforced gun control.”