In this issue of the digest:

• Remembering the Three Year Anniversary of the King Soopers Killings in Boulder

• CFCU Invited to Participate in ERPO Training Forum

• Columbine 25th Year Remembrance: Looking Back and Looking Forward

• Legislative Update on Gun Violence Prevention Bills

• Update on the Status of the Gun Violence Prevention Office

• Guns to Gardens Honors Veronica and Ashley Moser at the April 13 Event at Most Precious Blood

• Our Featured Congregation: Calvary Baptist

• CFCU Calendar for April and May

Remembering the Three Year Anniversary of the King Soopers Killings in Boulder

Reflection on the Interfaith Vigil on Friday 3/22/2024

“I felt it in my body before I was sure what it was. But then I remembered the date. I realized that what I was feeling was grief. It was the morning of our vigil and three years since Friday March 22nd, 2021, when our community was forever changed by the loss of 10 lives ended by gun violence at our local grocery store.

I am inspired by the stories of survivors. I am grieving at how little has changed to prevent something similar from happening again. I am filled with hope by those who have joined me in trying to do something. CFCU has given me and many of us an outlet for our grief, to put it into action.

Many of our religious traditions value rituals as a way to grieve collectively, so it was a gift to me and to a group of us who showed up on the lawn of the George Reynolds Branch of the Library on Friday March 22nd, 2024 for a truly interfaith gathering to remember and heal together. We chanted and sang and rang bells. We prayed and promised to be instruments of peace. We read the names of the 10 lives lost and we gave thanks together for the miracle that somehow broken hearts can go on beating. I think maybe we feel grief in our collective body too.  And I think that gathering together across differences to grieve, tapping into the best of our traditions to be healed, allows our grief to be put to not just healing ourselves, but healing the world.” Rev. Nicole M. Lamarche, Pastor, Community United Church of Christ

The Interfaith Vigil to commemorate the third anniversary of the King Soopers mass tragedy was organized and led by clergy and lay people from these Boulder CFCU member congregations: Community United Church of Christ, Congregation Bonai Shalom, Congregation Har Hashem, First Congregational Church UCC, and St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church.

Article contributed by Stephanie Greenberg, Congregation Bonai Shalom.

CFCU Invited to ERPO (Extreme Risk Protection Order) Training Forum convened by AG Weiser 

CFCU was invited to participate in an ERPO Training Forum on March 11th convened by Attorney General Weiser’s Office.  The Colorado Department of Law has received federal grant funding to create statewide training for various cohorts about ERPOs.  This effort seeks to increase the appropriate utilization of ERPO’s in Colorado by engaging critical stakeholders in a more coordinated approach to messaging and training. 

CFCU has been working on effective implementation of this life saving tool since its passage in 2019 when we and Colorado Ceasefire co-hosted a large, special meeting with AG Weiser and the bill sponsors to discuss implementation needs.  That work has continued through joint congregational presentations about ERPO and our ERPO Public Education Work Group whose following members attended the ERPO Training Forum: Susie Pappas (Montview Presbyterian); Marie Schaffer; and Alana Smart (B’nai havurah).  Colorado Ceasefire and Moms Demand Action also participated in the Forum along with representatives from a wide array of state agencies and the Denver Police Department’s ERPO Unit which leads the state in ERPO filings.  

Next steps from the Forum include:

• Creating a structure for ongoing collaboration through a working group with one representative per organization.  Susie Pappas who leads the ERPO Public Education Work Group will serve as CFCU’s representative with Alana Smart as her alternate.

• Creating two potential initial task forces with measurable goals.  We are seeking more information about the qualifications desired for these task forces since there is an application form: 

  Public Facing Messaging Task Force - The goal is to create a series of marketing materials (tri-fold, one-pager, etc.) that can be used by all partners. The AGO has a first draft of this document and a dedicated design team that will serve as a resource for this task force.

  Curriculum Task Force - The goal is to create a best practices curriculum framework which identifies learning objectives and key messages for any ERPO training. This task force will also provide specific feedback on curriculum materials submitted by stakeholders. Ideally such feedback will be provided after the curriculum framework is developed. 

We will provide ongoing updates about the critically important work of this group and applaud Attorney General Weiser for his leadership.  Used appropriately and effectively, we believe that ERPO has enormous potential for reducing firearm deaths and injuries in Colorado.  If you'd like to assist the work of CFCU's ERPO Public Education Work Group, contact susiepappas@hotmail.com

Article contributed by Alana Smart, Congregation B’nai Havurah and Susie Pappas, Montview Presbyterian Church.

Columbine 25th Year Remembrance: Looking Back and Looking Forward 

Friday, April 19th at 7:30pm on the West steps of the Capitol

The Columbine High School shooting, was among the first and deadliest school shooting incidents in the United States., 12 students and a teacher were killed and 20 others were injured. The killings took place on April 20, 1999, and this year marks the 25th anniversary.

This remembrance will be completely non-political and will both look back in remembrance and forward in hope for a safer future. CFCU is among the organizations participating in the preparation for this event. We encourage you to attend, and also to help.

During this remembrance event, there will be a time for a few people to speak briefly about their memories of that day. If you would like to participate, please contact Cheryl Fleetwood at cfcucolorado@gmail.com. There is also a need for volunteers to help at the event so if you plan to attend and would like to help, please contact Cheryl.

This event is being hosted by CFCU in collaboration with other organizations. We will be sharing a flyer with more details soon.

Legislative Update on Gun Violence Prevention Bills as of 3.29.2024

The 2024 legislative session has been an unusually busy one for gun-related bills, with more than a dozen having been introduced. The good news is that so far, there haven’t been ANY put forward by gun advocates. Here is a summary of the bills that the Advocacy Team supports and their status to date:

SB24-003 (Sen. Sullivan, Rep. Froelich) Grants Colorado Bureau of Investigations authority to investigate firearm crimes (e.g., “lie and try”). Passed the 3rd Reading in the Senate on March 15. Will be heard by the House Judiciary Committee, April 10, 1:30 PM.

SB24-066 (Sen. Sullivan, Rep. Froelich) Requires a merchant category code be established for Colorado firearms retailers to better enable law enforcement to track suspicious patterns of firearm, accessory, and ammunition purchases. House 2nd Reading, April 2, 9 AM.

SB24-131 (Sens. Jaquez Lewis and Kolker, Reps. Brown and Lindsay) Extends existing Colorado law specifying places where firearms may not be carried either openly or concealed to include other sensitive places. A substantially amended version of the original bill was presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee on 3/27, where it passed 3-2 along party lines. Scheduled for Senate 2nd Reading, April 2, 9 AM.

In order for the bill to better match the requirements of the U.S. Supreme Court's Bruen decision (increasing the chances of it passing and avoiding law suits if it does), the sensitive places in the amended bill where open or concealed carry is prohibited were reduced from 19 categories in the original to:

• Polling places, drop boxes, and counting facilities (extends existing state law to include concealed carry)

• General Assembly buildings

• Local government buildings unless allowed by local government

• Courthouses

• Public or private preschools through colleges, universities, and seminaries (eliminates the need for the CU Board of Regents to make a decision on concealed carry on the four campuses)

HB24-1122 (Reps. Duran and Pugliese, Sens. Winter and Roberts) A broad bill addressing court processes for temporary protection orders related to domestic violence. Prohibits purchase or possession of firearms and ammunition during period of temporary protection order. Advocacy Team member Pauline Nunez had a letter-to-the-editor in the Denver Post about the need for and importance of this bill. Passed the Senate 3rd Reading on March 22; House passed the Senate amendments and repassed the bill on March 25. It will go to the Governor for signing.

HB24-1162 (Reps. Snyder and Armagost) Exempts theft of firearms from current sentencing structure and makes theft of a firearm a class 6 felony, regardless of its value (amendment: unless under $1,000 in value). The bill was defeated in the House Judiciary Committee hearing, 6-5 vote.

HB24-1174 (Reps. Duran and Snyder, Sen. Mullica) Establishes minimum standards for concealed carry permit classes (e.g., live fire peace

training, gun safety, conflict resolution). Passed the 3rd Reading in the House on March 11, assigned to Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee.

HB24-1270 (Reps. Woodrow and Jodeh, Sen. Hansen) Requires firearm owners to maintain liability insurance and requires insurance companies to offer this insurance. Has conditional exemptions for people who can’t get insurance or can’t afford it. Hearing at the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee on March 14 postponed due to snowstorm.

HB24-1292 (Reps. Epps and Hernandez) Would prohibit manufacture, import, sale, and purchase of assault weapons and possession of rapid-fire trigger activators. Passed House Judiciary Committee hearing on 3/19. House 2nd Reading on April 1, 10 AM.

HB24-1310 (Reps. Parenti and Hamrick) Would establish training and other requirements for school safety officers and establish requirements for guns stored in schools. Hearing at the House Education Committee on April 18, 1:30 pm.

HB24-1348 (Reps. Velasco, García and Sens. Jaquez Lewis, Fields) Requires secure firearm storage in vehicles according to specifications in the bill. Extends the Safe Storage law from homes to vehicles. Passed the 3rd Reading in the House on March 25. Will move to the Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee.

HB24-1349 (Rep. Duran) Firearms & Ammunition Excise Tax. Would add a ballot initiative in the Nov. 2024 election on an 11% excise tax on firearms, firearm precursor parts, and ammunition. The revenue raised from the tax would be used primarily for crime victim services and also for safe firearm use. Scheduled for a hearing at House Finance Committee on April 1, 1:30 pm.

HB24-1353 (Reps. Sirota, Boesenecker and Sen. Bridges) Establishes a state firearms dealer permit requiring training and background checks for firearms dealers and employees, firearms security features at places of business and state inspections of at least 15% of permitted firearm places of business each year. Passed the hearing at the House Business Affairs & Labor Committee on March 27, 6-3 along party lines. Next goes to the House Finance Committee.

Article contributed by Stephanie Greenberg, Congregation Bonai Shalom.

Update on the Status of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP)

Since CFCU helped advocate for the creation of OGVP and it took a long time for the office to get off the ground, we were very concerned to learn that Jonathan McMillan, the Director of OGVP, had stepped down at the end of February 2024.  So CFCU reached out to the acting contact there, Carrie Contiglio, Division Director for the Prevention Services Division and learned the following:

CDPHE is conducting a national search for a new OGVP Director with the goal of having someone in place this summer  
They plan to move forward with:

• planning the second phase of the Let’s Talk Guns, Colorado marketing campaign https://letstalkgunscolorado.com/

• issuing a request for applications for the grant program in the coming weeks and

•  are progressing with the work of educating newly eligible ERPO petitioners  

Carrie and Chief Medical Officer, Ned Calonge, will also continue providing support and guidance for the office during this transition period.   Carrie also agreed that CFCU should wait until the new Director is on board to convene a general meeting focused on implementing the recommendations from the Public Health Roundtable on Firearm-Related Violence Prevention held last June in Colorado Springs.  It also turns out that Jonathan has moved to the Trailhead Institute that helped convene the Roundtable. Trailhead Institute Report

Carrie closed by saying: “We are committed to addressing gun violence.  The transition period presents an opportunity for growth and innovation as we continue to work toward our shared goal of creating safer communities for all.  As always, we encourage open dialogue and feedback from all stakeholders as we navigate this transition period.” CFCU will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates.

Article contributed by Alana Smart, Congregation B’nai Havurah.

Guns to Gardens Honors Veronica and Ashley Moser at the April 13 Event at Most Precious Blood

Please spread the word about our latest Guns to Garden event! Download the flyer and post it at your local library, rec center or coffee shop. You can down load the flyer at this link: Guns to Gardens April 13 Flyer

Our Featured Congregation: Calvary Baptist Church

Calvary Baptist Church became a member of CFCU about six years ago, with Rev. Gordon Kieft, congregant and CFCU supporter, who encouraged the partnership.

Calvary was formed in 1881 and started worshipping in its current location in 1966. Calvary is an open and affirming congregation and has led the way with calling women as pastors since they called Rev. Mary A. Hulst as Senior Pastor in 1993. Rev. Anne J. Scalfaro has served as Senior Pastor now for over 15 years. 

Your congregation’s yearly member dues help us in our mission!

You can pay your CFCU Congregation Member Dues here:

CFCU April and May Calendar

• April 2nd, 2:00 PM. Advocacy Team Meeting. For the zoom link and agenda, please contact Stephanie Greenberg, researchswgreenberg@gmail.com

• April 13 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Guns to Gardens at Most Precious Blood Catholic Church, 2200 S. Harrison Ave.

• April 18: 10 a.m. Communications Meeting, on zoom. Please contact Daryl Foelske (dfoelske@gmail.com) for more information.

• April 19: Columbine Anniversary Remembrance.

• Tuesday, May 21: 3:00 - 5 p.m. CFCU Steering Committee on Zoom

• Wednesday, May 22: 10 a.m - 11:30 a.m. Public Health Strategies Meeting on Zoom, contact Alana Smart (alanaks@aol.com) for more information

CFCU welcomes submissions to the Digest! Click here to see the guidelines for submission: CFCU Publication Guidelines