The Fire Line, Mental Health and Firearms, The Line

This week on New Mexico in Focus, correspondent Megan Kamerick sits down with Fernanda Santos to talk about one of the deadliest days in American firefighting, when 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots perished in a 2013 Arizona blaze. Santos, a journalist and the Phoenix bureau chief for the New York Times, is the author of The Fire Line.

Correspondent Gwyneth Doland leads a discussion about mental health and access to firearms. Should people who have a mental illness have limited access to guns? What training do law enforcement officers need to help address the combination of mental illness and guns in the community?

Host Gene Grant and the Line opinion panelists discuss the continuing threat from wildfires, the high rate of immigrant deportations in New Mexico, and the concerns from legislators that the state may face additional budget cuts.

Guests:
Dr. Dan Duhigg, psychiatrist serving on APD’s Mental Health Response and Advisory Committee
Stephan Marshall, director of the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy and a former FBI agent
Fernanda Santos, Phoenix bureau chief for the New York Times, author of “The Fire Line: The Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots and One of the Deadliest Days in American Firefighting”

Line Panelists:
Merritt Allen, Vox Optima
Dan Foley, former New Mexico house minority whip
Eric Griego, former New Mexico state senator
Sophie Martin, attorney and editor of DukeCityFix.com

Correspondents:
Gwyneth Doland
Megan Kamerick

Host:
Gene Grant

The Producer of NEW MEXICO IN FOCUS is Sarah Gustavus. Associate Producer is Kathy Wimmer. Funding for this program was provided in part by the McCune Foundation Communications Fund, Santa Fe Community Foundation.

Episode 951 airs June 24, 2016 at 7:00pm on Ch.5.1