Colorado Moms Demand Action Applauds House Committee for Voting Down Extreme Risk Law Repeal

The Colorado chapter of Moms Demand Action, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today released the following statement after the Colorado House Judiciary Committee voted down HB20-1271, legislation to repeal Colorado’s life-saving extreme risk law: 

“Our extreme risk law has the overwhelming support of Coloradans and is saving lives,” said Peggy Darrah, a volunteer with the Colorado chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Thanks to gun sense champions in our statehouse, this bill isn’t going anywhere.”

In 2019, Governor Jared Polis signed an extreme risk law. The law went into effect on Jan. 1, and has been making an impact since day one. In Colorado, extreme risk laws are broadly popular––the vast majority of Coloradans, including 87 percent of respondents and 78 percent of gun owners, support an extreme risk law. Following Connecticut’s increased enforcement of its extreme risk law, one study found the law to be associated with a 14 percent reduction in the state’s firearm suicide rate. And in Indiana, in the 10 years after the state enacted its extreme risk law in 2005, the state’s firearm suicide rate decreased by 7.5 percent.  

Extreme risk laws save lives — and can be particularly effective in preventing gun suicides. In Colorado, the rate of gun suicide increased 23 percent in the last decade and Colorado’s firearm suicide rate is 42 percent higher than the national firearm suicide rate. Colorado is one of eighteen states, and the District of Columbia, to have enacted extreme risk laws.  

The repeal effort comes only a week after hundreds of Colorado Moms Demand Action volunteers attended their annual advocacy day at the statehouse urging lawmakers to prioritize secure storage legislation. 

Statistics about gun violence in Colorado are available here, and information on how Colorado’s gun laws compare to other states’ overall is available here.