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CO Ceasefire News: ASK Day; GOP Blocks Bump Stock Ban


June 21 is ASK Day!

This Friday, June 21, is ASK Day—part of Brady’s ASKing Saves Kids campaign to spread awareness about the importance of asking about unlocked guns where children play.

The beginning of summer, when kids typically spend more time at the homes of friends and family members, is the perfect time to ask whether there is an unlocked gun where our children play. ASK is a simple way to keep kids safe and is part of Brady’s End Family Fire program, a national nonpartisan public education effort on safe firearm storage.

Some facts:

  • 1 in 3 children live in a home with at least one firearm.
  • 4.6 million kids live in a home with an unlocked, loaded gun.
  • 8 kids a day are unintentionally killed or injured by family fire.
  • 89% of unintentional shootings occur at home.
  • 76% of school shootings are facilitated by kids having access to a gun from the home of a parent or close relative.
  • 39% of parents mistakenly believe their child does not know where their firearm is stored.
  • 33% of gun-owning parents who thought their child could not access a household firearm had a child who reported they could.
  • In 75% of youth firearm suicides for which the gun storage method could be identified, the gun was stored loaded and unlocked.
  • Locking all household firearms could reduce firearm suicide and unintentional firearm fatalities among youth by up to 32%.

Find out more at Brady United’s ASKing Saves Kids page.


Republicans Block Bump Stock Ban

On Tuesday, June 18, U.S. Senate Republicans blocked a vote on a bipartisan bill to ban bump stocks. The bill was introduced after the United States Supreme Court overturned the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule banning bump stocks in a decision handed down Friday, June 14.

Rifles equipped with bump stocks were used in the October 2017 Las Vegas shooting, where the gunman fired more than 1,000 rounds in 11 minutes and killed 60 people.

“Banning bump stocks isn’t controversial,” said GIFFORDS Executive Director Emma Brown. “Americans don’t want automatic weapons on our streets—only the gun lobby does. Senate Republicans today made the indefensible decision to prioritize gun industry profits over our kids’ safety. November’s elections just got even more important.”

After the Las Vegas shooting, ATF issued a rule categorizing bump stocks as machine guns under the federal Gun Control Act and National Firearms Act. Civilian ownership of newly manufactured machine guns has been illegal since 1986.


NEA, Everytown Unveil New School Gun Violence Prevention and Response Guide

The National Education Association and the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund last week released the NEA School Gun Violence Prevention and Response Guide. This comprehensive guide provides resources, tools and practical recommendations to equip educators and others in the school community to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from gun violence in Pre-K–12 schools and institutions of higher education.

The Guide aims to help thwart shootings by emphasizing collaborative efforts among educators, schools, administrators and communities to effectively address gun-related tragedies. It provides resources, tools and practical guidance to address gun violence, including through the creation of safe and welcoming environments, adoption of evidence-based strategies like common-sense gun laws, building robust community partnerships and adopting trauma-informed practices before, during and after gun-violence incidents.
From January to May 2024, there have been at least 107 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 29 deaths and 61 injuries nationally, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. Approximately 3 million American children witness gun violence every year.


‘River’ of Guns to Mexico Detailed in Report

The Stop US Arms to Mexico project released the report The Iron River of Weapons to Mexico: Its Sources and Contents.

The flow of illegal weapons from the United States to Mexico that empowers criminal organizations and accelerates forced migration originates from hundreds of gun manufacturers and passes through thousands of local U.S. gun dealers, Stop US Arms to Mexico found. The group examined detailed, never-before disclosed data on the origins of guns trafficked and exported to Mexico and Central America from the United States since 2015.

The data was released by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in response to a court order after the ATF was sued over its denial in of a Freedom of Information Act request for information about firearms recovered in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras since 2014 and traced to purchases in the United States. In December, a federal court ordered ATF to produce the data.

The ATF records show 55,451 trafficked firearms recovered in the four countries, traced to U.S. zip codes and counties, as well as data on over 173,000 illicit guns by manufacturer and caliber. It also reveals that in 2023 the United States exported 12,515 military rifles to Mexico—more than to Ukraine, and fewer only than to Israel—as well as a stunning 6,686 machine guns. The U.S. exported another 14,868 military rifles to Mexico in March 2024.

The report says that “enforcement against illegal diversion by retail gun purchasers will have limited effect” on the flow of guns. “Instead, strategies should focus more on ‘upstream’ solutions that address the massive and militarized gun market and lack of regulations for purchases of these weapons.”


Tuesday is Primary Day! Register to Vote!

Next Tuesday, June 25, is Colorado State Primary Day. If you aren’t yet registered to vote (you should be) you may register at the polls on Primary Day itself. 
Even if you aren’t planning to vote in a primary, it’s not too soon to make sure you are properly registered and ready to vote this November. If you are receiving this newsletter, you probably already know what a critical time this is for gun violence prevention legislation at the federal, state and local levels. Your vote for candidates who support common-sense gun laws—and spreading the word among people you know—is more important now than ever. Register to vote here.


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