Colorado lawmakers hear bill to enforce safe firearm storage
DENVER (AP) — Colorado lawmakers heard from Second Amendment advocates and gun violence activists on a bill that would require firearms to be safely stored when they are not in use to keep them away from children and others who shouldn't have access.
Supporters of the bill asked a House committee Monday to pass the legislation to protect children from accidental gun injuries and teenagers from using firearms in suicide attempts.
Dr. Sindhu Sudanagunta, an emergency medicine pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Colorado, shared a story of her 14-year-old patient to illustrate how firearms are “disproportionately lethal” in suicide attempts. The patient she referred to as “James” had used a handgun stored in his father’s dresser.
“If a child came in swallowing a bottle of Tylenol, I can give them medication and undo that harm. But that bullet sitting in James’ brain is not something I can undo,” Sudanagunta said.
From 2009 to 2019, data from the Colorado Violent Death Reporting System found that 312 teens and young adults under 20 years old were involved in suicides by firearms — approximately 31 individuals per year, according to the bill’s fiscal note.
Opposition to the bill argued it would be an unconstitutional limit on responsible gunowners and could potentially threaten families from accessing their guns in dangerous situations such as a robbery.
Erik Stone, a Teller County commissioner who also opposed the measure, asked the bill sponsors to focus on educating youth on proper firearm use and prevention rather than enforcing a punishment after a fatal incident.
“You don’t do it by creating laws that have penalties after an accident occurs. It’s completely ineffective, so focus on the education," Stone said.
The bill requires that the...