On tomorrow's schedule: Clear Creek walk and gun violence hearing

Meeting at Vanover Park at 4:30 pm tomorrow (Tuesday, February 12) and walking along the creek with other councilors and interested residents will be a great way to prepare for the Clear Creek Management meeting at the community center at 5:30 pm. I expect to be there to share comments and observations. But if I'm late, I hope a large group showed up and went ahead without me.

I may be delayed because I am attending another important meeting. At the State Capital, the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives will hold a hearing on House Bill 1229, which requires background checks on almost all gun purchases. I'm scheduled to testify in favor of this bill, and it's difficult to predict how late the hearing will go.

In October, the Golden City Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of this constitutional, reasonable way of curbing gun violence. Council's position is in accord with the overwhelming majority of voters in Colorado. According to a Denver Post poll conducted last month the proposal is supported by 85% of Coloradans. 

Background checks are a proven, systematic way to stop felons, domestic abusers, and the dangerously  mentally ill from buying firearms. Last year in Colorado, background checks stopped 5,832 prohibited purchasers from obtaining a gun. Right now, though, only licensed dealers and sellers at gun shows are required to run background checks. Private sales, up to 40% of gun transfers, are governed by a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

This loophole is an enormous public safety problem.  A national survey of inmates found that nearly 80% of those who used a gun in a crime acquired it from a private seller. 

I recognize closing the loophole will not prevent every gun crime--no law can do that. And I understand that there are many other essential measures -- supporting education and mental health care, to name just two.

Yet passage of HB 1229 will keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, reducing gun violence and making Coloradans -- young and old -- safer in our homes, streets, schools, shopping areas, and movie theaters. And universal background checks do not affect any individual's Second Amendment rights or create a registry of gun owners. 

It's too late to stop the pain and bereavement of the many families already affected by gun violence. But we can help prevent future tragedies -- a goal that all of us share. I appreciate the opportunity to represent the position of Golden City Council and the majority of Golden residents on background checks. I also encourage all readers to add their voices to the state and national conversation by contacting our state and federal elected officials.