Kids Getting Guns: One of Albuquerque man’s hundreds of gun purchases found on high schooler
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – He bought hundreds of guns in the last four years, but federal investigators didn’t catch Marquez Martinez until they found one of his purchases on a 15-year-old at an Albuquerque high school. KRQE Investigates learned the way Martinez sold the guns may be how more and more kids are getting their hands on one.
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“So I just want to explain to you, um, kind of what’s going on. We have a search warrant for the house,” an ATF Agent told Martinez. KRQE Investigates obtained the recording of her interview with the then-25-year-old who sat in handcuffs in the back of a patrol car throughout the conversation.
“Essentially we’re here for the amount of guns that are coming in and out of this house, which you know about and you’re very much so involved in,” the agent explained. While the two talked, other ATF agents were executing the search warrant at Martinez’s brother’s house. Martinez told the agent he occasionally stayed there because he was homeless.
ATF Agent: How many guns do you think that you’ve purchased? In your –
Martinez: I’ve purchased a lot.
ATF Agent: … in your lifetime? Honestly.
Martinez: Honestly? A lot.
Federal court records showed “a lot” is hundreds. Martinez told the agent he started buying guns when he turned 21 years old. At the time of the interview, that was four years of firearms purchases.
ATF Agent: In the past six months, how many do you think you’ve purchased?
Martinez: Like, six months?
ATF Agent: Mhm.
Martinez: Like 50?
ATF Agent: 50. Okay. And where are those guns at right now?
Martinez: I’m — right now I’m hurting for money ’cause I’m homeless. So, I kind of just sold a bunch of ’em.
Listen to ATF Interview Below:
Martinez explained to the agent that he sold the guns he bought to make a living, but the agents could still find some during their search of his brother’s house. And they did. Court records revealed the agents located 13 firearms – an AK-47, shotguns, a revolver, and several firearms still in boxes.
Photo courtesy of court records Photo courtesy of court records Photo courtesy of court records Photo courtesy of court records Photo courtesy of court records Photo courtesy of court records Photo courtesy of court records Photo courtesy of court records Photo courtesy of court records Photo courtesy of court records Photo courtesy of court records Photo courtesy of court records Photo courtesy of court records Photo courtesy of court records
“So, I’ll be honest with you,” the agent said to Martinez. “I mean, we’ve been watching you because of the amount of guns that you purchase. Um, also the amount of guns that you’ve purchased and they’ve been recovered by law enforcement.” She explained that one was found on a murder suspect pulled over in Texas, and another was located on a 15-year-old at Albuquerque’s West Mesa High School.
“A 15-year-old at the high school had a loaded one in his backpack,” the agent said. “One of your guns.” Martinez replied, “One of mine?” She confirmed, “One of yours.”
The discovery of the gun at West Mesa High School in January 2023 helped the feds zero in on Martinez. They quickly learned he had been selling guns on social media, specifically through his Instagram stories, which are temporary posts that disappear from a person’s account after 24 hours. New Mexico’s U.S. Attorney Alexander Uballez said the target audience on the site is typically teenagers. “It’s kind of, as you might imagine, governed by age. So, the populations buying guns via social media are generally younger,” he said.
Uballez could not talk specifics on Martinez’s case because he has not been sentenced, but the U.S. Attorney agreed to speak generally about how cases like Martinez’s reveal how kids are getting their hands on guns. It’s a question KRQE Investigates had after seeing more and more teenagers charged with gun crimes in 2023.
Data from the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office revealed of the 781 juvenile cases opened in 2023, 268 involved a kid with a gun. That’s about 35% of cases. “It’s concerning right?” Uballez commented. “And so, the overwhelming proportion of gun violence is still perpetrated by folks in this sort of 25 to 35-year-old range. But there is, I would say, an increase in that number of folks who are under 25.”
Why is that? The U.S. Attorney said social media can also be blamed here because online beefs have led to several shootings. Plus, he pointed to the large number of illegally sold firearms in communities across New Mexico. Uballez explained, “And not just firearms themselves, which are pervasive in our city at least, but things that make them much more deadly, such as Glock switches, such as extended magazines, and drum magazines.”
That’s the business federal law enforcement said Martinez was in. Court records show the gun found on the high schooler had a Glock switch, sometimes called a glitch, on it. Uballez shared, “They could look like a Lego.” The machine gun conversion device is small but powerful. It makes a gun fully automatic.
ATF Agent: Imagine if your children went to the school and that child used that gun against them. Okay, would you think that the purchaser needs to be held accountable for that because you’re just trying to make money?
Martinez: I mean you guys can judge me all you want.
Martinez denied knowing anything about switches. The ATF Agent made it clear she did not believe him. “I know that that’s not the truth,” she said. “So, I’ll let you take a minute.” The Agent knew because the ATF actually purchased them from Martinez.
Court records show the feds went undercover, contacted Martinez on Instagram, and met up with him in person at various locations to make five different purchases over five weeks. The ATF said it bought four switches, two 9mm pistols, an AK-47, fentanyl, and LSD. “This is our best way of confirming that a person we suspect of doing something is doing that thing by asking them for the thing,” Uballez said of this investigative tactic. Controlled purchases help solidify a case.
Martinez pled guilty to three federal charges for possessing and selling those switches and operating as a firearms dealer without a license. He is due back in court in March for sentencing. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is asking he spend a little more than five years in prison. Court records show Martinez wants just three years because of his lack of criminal record, tough childhood, and mental health struggles.
Uballez said education is critical to curbing the rise in teenage gun violence. His Office visits schools throughout the year to speak with both students and teachers. “I know one of the major things that teachers would like to see is parents who are curious about their kid’s lives,” he said. “Know where your kids are, know who they’re hanging out with, know the parents of the kids your kids are hanging out with, and make sure you communicate in that community.” He also suggested taking the time to understand the social media platforms your child uses. “Know how they work and what your kids are doing there,” Uballez said. “It’s no different than knowing, you know, whose house your kid is at or who they’re meeting up with after school.”
Data from Albuquerque Public Schools shows 18 guns were found on school campuses throughout the 2022 – 2023 school year. The report states school officials have located ten guns on APS school campuses during the first half of the 2023 – 2024 school year.
Social media is not the only way a teenager can get ahold of a gun, though. Uballez also mentioned kids get their hands on guns when a parent does not lock theirs up properly or buys one for their child. Plus, he said kids steal guns or buy weapons on the street.
