Update on Initiative 71. It's back in-process and likely out for signatures soon. And watching a gun safety video likely helps children make better choices when they find a gun.
Another initiative you might consider supporting.
I saw the article below and wanted to remind you (I've posted about this initiative in the past).
Initiative 71, the measure that would require that certain violent felons serve the majority of their sentence, was slated to be out for signatures after beating a challenge at the Colorado Supreme Court. One of the sponsors chose to change some language in it so they are back into the process.
If you want more info, check out the extended quote from the article linked below in the screenshot.
If you want to be involved in or hear its progress at it's new Title Board hearing, check out the second screenshot from the Secretary of State's Initiative Tracker page (linked below the story). It's up on August 2nd for it's new round.
If I see a petition for it, I'll sign. If it's on the ballot, I'll vote for it. Give the text of the measure a look and give signing the petition some serious thought. I hope you'll join me in supporting this.
Parole has become (for a variety of reasons and, no, not entirely due to some Democrat's softness on criminals) far too easy to get and violent people are out on the streets where it's all too common for them to reoffend.
If, as Mr. Fields puts it, the legislature won't act to plug this gap, it's up to us.
https://pagetwo.completecolorado.com/2023/07/23/ballot-measure-violent-offenders-serve-most-of-sentence/
https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/
Gun safety videos making it less likely that a child will pick up a gun?
An interesting post from The Reload and the study it references are both linked below. I found them both noteworthy for a couple reasons.
One, in contrast to a great deal of gun research, this is experimental data and not correlation. This means that the conclusions reached here (while still needing verification in other trials) are likely more solid than those of studies which can, at best, illuminate associations; i.e. other gun studies which can only state with certainty the probability that you'll find two things together.
Second, if you look at the bit I underlined in the attached screenshot (from the study's webpage) it echoes a belief I've long held (remember to be cautious around things that confirm what you believe--that's why I would hold off thinking that a video on gun safety or hunter's safety course is a cure-all to preventing kids accidentally and unsafely shooting a gun): that you need to talk to children about guns and how to be safe around them rather than make the subject anathema due to personal distaste or discomfort.
One of the things that I've read--and have come to believe--about children is that a main driver for their behavior and apparent oddness is that they're struggling mightily to figure out the patterns in the world around them. What is this? What is an appropriate response?
If we, the adults who care for them, don't do our jobs in helping them figure out those patterns, they will come to conclusions on their own. And those conclusions might not be ones we think are appropriate.
In this way, I see the video ,mentioned in the study, or a gun safety course, or a parent who shows his or her child how to be safe around a gun as a good idea. Not a miracle (in fact, if you look at the increase in safe/appropriate behavior around a found gun mentioned in the study, it's not a giant leap), but a low-energy output step among others that increase the chances that a little one you know won't either make a stupid decision or have an accident.
Apparently the video is not out for public consumption (someone involved in the study didn't want it in the public domain), but I am not too worried about that. I think the same goal can be achieved in other ways.
Whether you hunt or not, whether you have a gun or not, consider enrolling you and your child in a hunter's education course.
If you are unaware of how to safely handle a firearm, consult with someone who is and then sit down and start having age appropriate discussions with your little one. Do this whether or not you have guns in your home.
When guns come up in movies or on the news or when you see them in the store, talk it over with your child. Remind him or her that, until they're old enough and know more about handling guns, the only safe thing to do about a gun is to not pick it up, leave the situation, and tell you about it when they see you.
If you do have firearms, store them safely. There are plenty of resources out there on how to do this and there are ways to store a firearm safely without diminishing your ability to access it in a timely fashion should you need it for home defense.
Help your child make sense of the world so that he or she isn't left on their own to come up with their own rules.
https://thereload.com/study-minute-long-video-can-make-children-safer-around-guns/
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2807325?utm_source=The%20Trace%20mailing%20list&utm_campaign=a79d01656a-trace_bulletin_july_19_2023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-a79d01656a-[LIST_EMAIL_ID]