HomeGun Violence Prevention Task Force

Purpose

To promote the collective actions necessary to advance equity and justice in Colorado’s systems and policies in issue areas aligned with League positions.

This is a sub-committee of the Healthcare Task Force.

The Gun Violence Prevention Task Force's purpose is to inform and engage members across the state to promote collective actions around gun violence prevention issues as they are strongly aligned with a stated League position(s). By increasing the understanding and importance of this issue through education, this Task Force hopes to influence public policy and legislation at all levels through advocacy, while speaking with one League voice.

The Gun Violence Prevention Task Force coordinates with local Leagues and other organizations advocating for policies in this area. They will organize webinars, workshops and presentations on major topics of interest within the gun violence prevention subject area and promote justice and equity through advocacy at all levels of government. They are closely aligned with the efforts of the LWVCO Legislative Action Committee and the LWVUS to ensure cohesion.

LWV Positions on Gun Violence Prevention

On Public Safety: Ensuring the protection of the public by safeguarding people from crimes, disaster, and other potential dangers and threats.

On Gun Control or Gun Safety: We must address the dangers of gun violence and enact comprehensive legislation towards gun reform.

Committee Liaisons to the LAC:
Maud Naroll, Rionda Osman

Board & Staff:
Anne McGihon (LWVCO Board of Directors)
Andrea Wilkins (LWVCO staff Legislative Liaison)
Beth Hendrix (LWVCO Executive Director)

Current Partners: Colorado Ceasefire, Giffords, & Moms Demand Action

Upcoming Events

Next Meeting May 28, 2025

Register Here

RESOURCES

RAND: Science of Gun Policy In the fourth edition of this report, the authors incorporate more-recent research in their synthesis of the available scientific data regarding the effects of 18 state firearm policies on firearm injuries and deaths, violent crime, suicides, the gun industry, defensive gun use, and other outcomes.

Smart, Rosanna, Andrew R. Morral, James P. Murphy, Rupa Jose, Amanda Charbonneau, and Sierra Smucker, The Science of Gun Policy: A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States, Fourth Edition. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2024. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA243-9.html. Also available in print form.

Gun Policy Archives of The Journalist's Resource. A collection of articles, explainers, research roundups, and tip sheets about guns and gun policy for journalists.

Racial Justice Impact Assessment: This assessment tool encourages policy makers to consider impacts on different racial and ethnic groups to lessen or avoid institutional racism. The toolkit is available from Race Forward: Racial Equity Impact Assessment Toolkit

Colorado Gun Violence Prevention Resource Bank: This website, hosted by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, is intended to be a resource for individuals and communities to understand what firearm injury and violence look like in Colorado—and to explore solutions and approaches, informed by research, that may reduce the overall burden of firearm injuries and deaths.

CFCU Profile of Gun Violence Sep2023

ATF: National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment

2023 Rand Corporation Report: The Science of Gun Policy. A critical synthesis of research evidence on the effects of gun policies in the United States, Third Edition: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA243-4.html

US Office of Gun Violence Prevention: https://www.whitehouse.gov/ogvp/

Colorado Office of Gun Violence Prevention: https://cdphe.colorado.gov/office-of-gun-violence-prevention

Past Events

Next Meeting: April 16, 2025

Register Here

March 26, 2025

5:30 - 6:30 PM (via Zoom)

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s Background Checks Keep Guns Out of the Wrong Hands

SPEAKERS:

ROSS SIBLEY, Assistant Director Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) InstaCheck
BECKY SHOE, Program Manager for Firearms InstaCheck Unit at CBI

Watch the video

CBI Background Checks - 3/26/2025

Preventing Suicide by Firearm: Insights from the Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention

Dr. Lena Heilmann, Director, Office of Suicide Prevention

27 February 2025

The Office of Suicide Prevention serves as the statewide lead for suicide prevention, intervention supports, and postvention efforts in Colorado, collaborating with communities statewide to reduce the number of suicide deaths and attempts.

Watch the zoom recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oci8YsW88K0

View Dr. Heilmann's slides: Heilmann Suicide Prevention Slides 27Feb25

Gun Violence Needs a Public Health Approach

Nancy Naragon and Preston Shimer
LWV of Greater Pittsburgh

11 September 2024

The League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh has worked to revise the League's position on Gun Safety. Their study and discussions led them to recommend a public health approach to the problem of gun violence. It is their hope that the public health approach is a way to move forward when regulation has not.

They have prepared a 7-min video to emphasize the horror of this public health crisis. Its contents are disturbing.

Slides are available: LWV Pittsburgh GV Position Sep2024

Watch the film: Pittsburgh Gun Safety Position Film

Dashboard for Gun Violence Prevention Resources

Leslie Barnard, Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative

April 24, 2024

Leslie Barnard of the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative spoke about the new Gun Violence Prevention Resource Bank of the Colorado Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

She told us how the resource dashboard came into being, what data are available, what kinds of criteria are used to select data, who uses the database, and what hopes she has for future use.

Watch the video here

See Dr. Barnard's slides: L Barnard Firearm Dashboard slides 24Apr24.

What is the Role of Gun Rights and Gun Safety Groups in Colorado?

Sandra Fish, Correspondent for The Colorado Sun

March 13, 2024

Sandra discussed how both political groups spend money on lobbying and campaigns, as well as offer some history of the issues in Colorado.

Sandra Fish is a correspondent for The Colorado Sun focusing on politics and data. She’s reported on politics at news outlets in Iowa, Florida, New Mexico and Colorado, as well as nationally. She was a full-time journalism instructor at CU Boulder for eight year

Watch the video here.

Follow the Money

Sarah Bryner of the Center for Responsive Politics

February 21, 2024

Money and politics seemingly cannot be separated, and gun politics are not an exception. Sarah Bryner of the Center for Responsive Politics will help us explore the many resources available to track money in political campaigns on the OpenSecrets website.

Watch the video here.

Dr Emmy Betz, Founding director Firearm Injury Prevention

Wednesday, 13 December 2023

Dr. Emmy Betz is an Emergency medicine physician who trained at Yale University, Johns Hopkins, and a Harvard-affiliated residency. She is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where she is the founding director of the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative. Dr. Betz promotes respectful, collaborative, science-based approaches for injury prevention, with a particular focus on firearm suicide prevention. She will be discussing her journey and presenting data regarding gun violence.

Watch the video here
See Dr. Betz's slides: E. Betz Injury Prevention slides 13Dec23

The ERPO Law in Colorado

with Rachel Dane, Esq.

25 October 2023

Rachel Dane, Esq. is a staff attorney at Bridge to Justice who spearheads their Pathways From Violence Initiative, which is Colorado's first program that provides free attorneys for clients requesting Extreme Risk Protection Orders ("ERPOs"). Rachel provides training on ERPOs to attorneys, mental health practitioners, concerned community members, and the general public throughout Colorado. She has been litigating safety issues for eight years through her work with survivors of domestic violence and brings a wealth of knowledge about the real world experiences of people threatened by firearm violence. Rachel will provide an overview of the ERPO law in Colorado, data on how it's being applied, and examples of how it affects the lives of Coloradans.

View the video here.

See Ms Dane's Slides: R. Dane ERPO slides 25Oct23

Using What Works to Prevent Gun Violence

with Dr. Beverly Kingston, Director of the University of Colorado's Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence

20 September 2023

Research consistently finds that a comprehensive approach to violence prevention offers the greatest potential for preventing violence. This presentation describes the current violence problem, defines the key components of a comprehensive approach to violence prevention, and provides ways to implement this approach in schools and communities. Beverly Kingston, Ph.D., is director and senior research associate at the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research focuses on addressing the root causes of violence by creating the conditions that support healthy human development throughout the life course.

Watch Dr. Kingston's presentation here.
See Dr. Kingston's slides here: Slide deck - B. Kingston presentation 20 Sep 2023

Watch the meeting from September 13, 2023 here.