Colorado Moms Demand Action Volunteers Pledge to Continue Working for Secure Storage Legislation

The Colorado chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today released the following statement after HB20-1355 and HB20-1356 were indefinitely postponed. 

HB20-1355 would require firearms that a juvenile or prohibited person might be able to access to be securely stored when not under the control of the gun owner, and HB20-1356 would require gun owners to report to law enforcement when a gun is lost or stolen:

“By preventing unintentional shootings and gun thefts, secure storage laws can save lives,” said Kelly Murphy, a volunteer with the Colorado chapter of Moms Demand Action. “We look forward to working with lawmakers next year to prioritize these important policies. Promoting responsible gun ownership continues to be vital to saving lives in Colorado. We’ll be back next year to continue this work, and in the meantime, we’ll keep doing all we can to urge gun owners to practice secure storage.”

Secure firearm storage — particularly the storage of firearms locked and unloaded, with ammunition locked and stored separately — reduces the risk of gun violence, particularly among children, by helping to prevent unintentional shootings and gun suicides. Firearms are the second leading cause of death among children and teens in Colorado. In Colorado, an average of 58 children and teens die by guns every year, and 60 percent of these deaths are by suicide. Gun suicides among children and teens in Colorado have increased 61 percent from 2009 to 2018. 

Colorado Moms Demand Action volunteers will also continue spreading awareness and advocating for the Be SMART program – an educational program on how to securely store firearms so they don’t end up in the wrong hands.

Recently, the Denver Public Schools Board of Education unanimously voted to approve a resolution to require information be sent home with students to educate parents on their responsibility to securely store firearms they own. Parents or guardians need to sign and return the letter acknowledging they have read the information.

More information about secure storage legislation here. 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.