I commend Dr. John Taylor for writing the column “Seeking common ground on gun violence” which was in the Courier on Jan 8, 2025.  

He stated that the US has a very high rate of gun violence compared to the rest of the developed world. He conjectured why that is even though a majority of American voters want common sense gun laws. And he encouraged us all to move forward with a clear message to politicians, gun manufacturers, and others that “enough is enough.”  

So just how bad is the gun violence problem? U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, M.D., officially declared firearm violence a public health crisis on June 25, 2024. In his advisory, Murthy noted that over half of U.S. adults have either personally experienced gun-related violence or have a family member who has. Guns are the leading cause of death for children in the U.S. They are also the weapons used most often in domestic violence against women. Globally, the U.S. is at the 93rd percentile for firearm mortality, the 92nd percentile for children and teen mortality, and the 96th percentile for female mortality. The U.S. has the eighth highest firearm mortality in the world for women. (Comparing Deaths from Gun Violence in US with other countries” Commonwealth Fund, Oct. 2024). 

How does Colorado fare in these statistics? Colorado’s gun death rates were higher than the entire country every year between 2014 and 2023. In 2023, Colorado had 1,030 gun deaths, which comes to about three per day. The largest number of gun deaths in Colorado in 2023, about 70%, were suicides at 725. Guns were used 56% of all suicide deaths In 2023, Colorado also had 268 gun homicides, or 26% of all gun deaths. The use of guns in homicides has increased form 59% of all homicides in 2014 to 71% in 2023. (PROFILE OF GUN VIOLENCE IN COLORADO Colorado Faith Communities United to End Gun Violence November 2024)  

Studies by the American Academy of Pediatrics show that there are methods of prevention could make a real dent in these tragic numbers, especially for children. First is strengthening gun violence prevention research. Congress passed the Dickey Amendment in 1996, which prohibited the use of federal money to advocate for or promote gun control. The amendment was backed by the National Rifle Association (NRA). However, in March 2018, the amendment was reinterpreted to mean the government could fund research into gun violence prevention. In the last three years, Congress has appropriated money to the various agencies to conduct gun violence research. This needs to continue.  

Second, background check legislation needs to be strengthened. Currently at the federal level, background checks are not conducted on gun sales made outside of gun stores. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have state laws requiring background checks for all gun sales. I am proud that Colorado is one of those states. Research shows that states with background checks required for all gun purchases have lower rates of gun homicides, suicides, and gun trafficking.  

Third, extreme risk protection orders (ERPO) need to be made at the federal level. These laws permit family members as well as law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily remove firearms from a person considered to be at risk of self-harm or harming others. Colorado has such a law, and it has saved lives here. Please remember: 70% of firearm deaths are suicides.  

Finally, Colorado passed a safe storage law in 2021. This ensures that guns stored in the home are unloaded and locked in a gun safe or with a gun lock. Ammunition must be stored securely in a separate location. Just this Jan. 1, a new law came into effect requiring that all guns held in cars be in some kind of locked box and out of sight. (This law was prompted both by the high percentage of crimes committed by stolen guns and the fact that over half of guns reported stolen in the US were stolen from cars.)  

These safe storage laws can help decrease gun deaths resulting from passion, like in intimate partner violence and also in teen suicide, which is exacerbated by those infamous teenage intense emotions. When one realizes that 4.6 million children in the country live in a home in which there is a loaded, unlocked gun, such laws make sense. Secure firearm storage is associated with a 78% lower risk of self-inflicted gun injuries and an 85% risk of unintentional injuries among children and teens. (11 David C. Grossman et al., “Gun Storage Practices and Risk of Youth Suicide and Unintentional Firearm Injuries,” JAMA 293, no. 6 (2005): 707–14) 

I am proud of the progress Colorado has made in gun safety. Balancing the right to own a gun contained in the Second Amendment with the right to life, liberty, and property contained in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution is tough. But as noted, most Americans want common-sense gun laws. I think the Colorado legislature is using such common sense to make good laws which are making Colorado a safer place for all of us who live here. 

Elizabeth (Beth) Kinney moved to the Valley in 1993, attracted to Alamosa by Valley-Wide Health Services. She worked as a family practice physician for seven years and then moved to emergency care. Kinney worked as an emergency physician first at the Alamosa and Rio Grande Hospitals and later at the Conejos County Hospital until retiring in 2017.