Hickenlooper’s Plan for Gun Violence Prevention
A Record of Accomplishment in a Purple State
After the tragic mass shooting at the Aurora movie theater, Colorado Governor John
Hickenlooper signed into law landmark reforms on gun safety that required background
checks for private and online gun sales and that banned high-capacity magazines.
Colorado is the first purple state to enact such meaningful gun safety legislation.
In April 2013, President Obama said, “I think that Colorado has shown that practical
progress is possible thanks to the leadership of Governor Hickenlooper and some of the
state legislators who are here today…I want to thank Governor Hickenlooper for his
outstanding leadership.”
During his re-election campaign in 2014, a challenging year for Democrats, Governor
Hickenlooper faced strong criticism from Republicans and gun rights advocates.
Throughout the campaign, Governor Hickenlooper reaffirmed his support for gun safety
legislation and said he would sign the limit on high-capacity magazines again.
After the Parkland shooting in February 2018, Governor Hickenlooper called for
additional gun safety laws, including a ban on “bump stocks” and a “red flag” bill that
would be proposed during the 2018 Colorado legislative session. During national
television interviews, he urged the nation to use the Colorado model in taking on the
NRA in enacting common sense proposals such as universal background checks.
The number of deaths per year from firearms in our nation has surged to 39,773, the
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highest figure in the 50 years that this data has been collected. Governor Hickenlooper
recognizes that gun violence in our nation is a public health epidemic that requires an
urgent and comprehensive set of national strategies. As President, he would institute
the following policies.

Education and Safety
National standard for gun licensing
In this country, before you can drive a car, you have to get a license and demonstrate
you can responsibly drive a vehicle. Governor Hickenlooper would create that same rite
of passage for gun ownership, with two primary elements:
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 First, gun owners will obtain a national gun license based on eligibility requirements
including a background check. This license would be renewed online every five years.
Gun owners will have a three-year grace period to meeting the licensing requirements.
Second, for the next generation of gun owners, gun owners turning 21 after the
Hickenlooper plan is passed, would need to undergo gun safety and storage training as
part of the licensing requirement. Most hunters go through hunter safety classes to
obtain a hunting license, so it reasons we should expand this practice across guns that
are even more potentially dangerous than a hunting rifle.
Opposing concealed carry reciprocity
For the last two years, Republicans in Congress and the National Rifle Association have
pushed concealed carry reciprocity. This legislation would essentially invalidate local
gun safety regulations across the country by requiring states and municipalities to
recognize concealed carry permits from other states regardless of the requirements it
took to get those out-of-state permits. Authorities in major cities with robust gun safety
laws would be forced to accept much-less stringent concealed carry permits from very
different places. Standards to receive concealed carry permits in Alabama are very
different than those in Chicago, but under concealed carry reciprocity, they would be
treated the same.
As Governor of Colorado, Hickenlooper effectively opposed concealed carry reciprocity
legislation. That’s why as President, Hickenlooper will oppose and veto concealed carry
reciprocity legislation.
Fund local community-based programs to break the cycle of gun violence in
urban areas
Gun violence is devastating to all of our communities, though gun violence is
disproportionately high in dense, underserved urban areas, particularly within
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impoverished communities of color. Hickenlooper knows the only way to address this
violence is through a holistic approach: effective gun laws to deal with the flood of guns
are part of the solution but we also need to invest in economic development and proven,
local community-based strategies and services to reduce the epidemic of gun violence
in our communities.
These programs will hire individuals from the local communities to participate in Group
Violence Intervention, Hospital-based Violence Intervention and other holistic programs
that have been proven to work.
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 Local community advocates will provide services that benefit at-risk individuals such as
Hickenlooper’s apprenticeship program, mobility assistance, preventive and
post-traumatic mental health treatment, and housing support. A person whose basic
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needs are being met is far less likely to engage in violent behavior.
Replicate the Massachusetts safe storage law
Currently, only Massachusetts has a law requiring that firearms are stored in a locked
location. With today’s technology, gun safes are faster to open and easier to access
than ever. It’s time for the federal government to require that guns are stored behind a
lock. This will prevent children from accessing guns, reduce suicides, and keep our
communities safer.

Using Data to Stop Mass Shootings
Leverage technology to strengthen threat assessments
Law enforcement lacks the capacity to do the deep research of every planned, thwarted
or executed school attack. This is where public-private partnerships can step in to assist
with predictive analytics. In Denver, for example, a remarkable student Shreya
Nallapatti was motivated to act after the Parkland shooting. Nallapatti brought together a
team of young technologists to analyze historic gun violence to help understand the
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factors that can be predictive of a mass shooting.
In Cincinnati, a research team at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center is using
predictive data analysis to assist therapists and counselors in assessing students’ risk
for school violence. In the pilot study of 103 students in 74 schools, the machine
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learning algorithm was highly accurate in assessing school violence risk.
During his terms as Mayor and Governor, Hickenlooper set a national model for
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initiating public-private partnerships to solve big problems and drive innovation.
President Hickenlooper would build on that legacy at the federal level including in the
technology sector.
Fund CDC research on gun violence.

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​https://lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-laws/policy-areas/other-laws-policies/intervention-strategies/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/geekgirlrising/2018/05/03/how-this-teen-is-using-artificial-intelligence-to-stop
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​ ttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11126-018-9581-8
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 For two decades, Congress has prevented the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), from adequately researching the impact of gun violence and how to
prevent gun violence. Congress also hindered research with the Tiahrt Amendment in
2003, which limits ATF's authority to release gun trace data. Of all the leading causes of
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death in our country, gun violence receives by far the least amount of research funding.
Hickenlooper will immediately move to fund the CDC’s research into gun violence
prevention and will direct that the CDC’s findings be used in conjunction with solutions
to reduce gun violence.

Keeping Firearms in the Right Hands
National universal background checks
We need a national system of universal background checks to address the
state-by-state patchwork and loopholes. An overwhelming majority of Americans
support requiring a background check for all gun sales. Currently, one in five gun
purchases are not subject to a background check because of existing loopholes. The
nonpartisan Rand Corporation estimates universal background checks could prevent
1,100 homicides a year. As President, Governor Hickenlooper will close this loophole
and expand the waiting period to 10 days to eliminate the “Charleston Loophole.”
Raising the age to purchase a firearm to 21
Too many young people have access to guns. By raising the minimum age to purchase
a gun to 21, we will reduce intentional, accidental and suicidal gun violence. Florida
recently raised the minimum age to 21 (in legislation signed by a Republican governor)
and it is time we had a standard, nationwide age restriction on gun purchases.
Stopping gun trafficking
Governor Hickenlooper knows law enforcement needs the necessary tools to go after
our most dangerous gun criminals – criminals who traffic crime guns with little fear of
prosecution. Instead of a common-sense federal gun trafficking law, prosecutors are
forced to rely on a patchwork of inconsistent and ineffective state laws. This dangerous
omission must be immediately addressed. Just like the RICO Act significantly and
permanently weakened the Mafia, we need federal legislation to stop our most
dangerous criminals from trafficking guns and endangering our communities.
Each year, there are roughly 450,000 instances in which a criminal uses a firearm in a a
violent crime (i.e., rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple
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 assault). When law enforcement is able to trace the guns used in these crimes, they
have found that in 9 out of 10 cases, the person who originally bought the gun is
different from the person who used it. And a third of these guns came from out of state.
Hickenlooper strongly supports a federal gun trafficking law to stem the flow of crime
guns to our most dangerous criminals. Combined with universal background checks,
this new gun trafficking law will make our communities safer by getting guns out of the
hands of bad actors who are destroying our neighborhoods.
We need to make gun trafficking a federal crime and we can make our communities
safer by punishing criminals who sell or transfer guns they know or should reasonably
know have been illegally obtained. We also must amend the federal Criminal Code to
allow for conspiracy charges against offenders who continue to move guns across state
lines to be sold to criminals.
Folding the ATF into the FBI
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) is one of the federal
government’s oldest bureaus. Over time its mission has included oversight of alcohol,
tobacco, arms, and explosives, with primary focus on firearms enforcement. Yet, the
ATF has never developed a clear mission or foothold among federal law enforcement
agencies.
While ATF agents are productive and dedicated, their agency has been hobbled by
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bureaucratic and political obstacles; it has suffered from inadequate oversight and
fragmentation from other federal law enforcement agencies. Congress, heavily
influenced by the N.R.A., has further compromised the agency by preventing its director
from being confirmed and imposing limitations that prevent the agency from
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implementing the simplest of measures to track the ownership of firearms. It struggles
to perform basic duties, including inspections of firearms dealers and the tracking of
gun-related crimes.
Nine out of ten guns used in crimes come from only 5% of gun dealers. ​While the ATF
is aware of who these gun dealers are, it has responded with alarming leniency and
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allowed many of the worst offenders to keep their licenses.
Extraordinary cooperation is required to tackle the multi-jurisdictional and complex
epidemic of gun crime, with more than 300 million guns in private hands in the U.S. It’s
time that the ATF and its mission, agents, and staff, are transferred into the FBI, the law
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​http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-justice/bureau-of-alcohol-tobacco-firearms-and-explosives-atf?agencyid=7192
​https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/22/us/politics/trump-atf-nra.html
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 enforcement agency whose mission is “to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the
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United States.” This move would give agents stability, prevent agencies from
competing over the same cases, and finally put firearms crimes in the same standing as
other offenses.
Grants to encourage states to implement extreme risk protection orders
Colorado and fourteen other states have Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) laws
on the books. These laws let families and law enforcement temporarily remove an
individual’s access to firearms in order to prevent future acts of violence. This type of
state-level legislation needs to be incentivized. We also need to make sure individuals
under ERPOs cannot pass background checks to obtain firearms. As President,
Hickenlooper will create a grant program to help states give local law enforcement the
resources they need to implement extreme risk protection orders.
ERPO laws aren’t just a way to stop mass shootings. Studies have shown that they are
an effective tool at reducing suicides. ERPO laws give loved ones a civil option to
intervene on warning signs and prevent tragedies from occurring. It’s time the federal
government helps put them in place across the country.

Eliminating Weapons of War
National magazine limits
Governor Hickenlooper passed magazine limits in Colorado and he supports magazine
limits nationwide; 155% more people are shot in incidents where assault weapons or
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high-capacity magazines are used.
Magazine limits save lives during mass shootings and responsible hunters and gun
owners agree that high-capacity magazines serve little purpose other than turning
firearms into weapons of war.
Codifying the ban on bump stocks
After the tragic Las Vegas shooting in 2017, the DOJ reinterpreted a long-standing rule
to effectively ban bump stocks. These and other similar accessories essentially turn
legal firearms into automatic weapons. It’s time for Congress to affirm that interpretation
and codify it into law. We must act to permanently ban these lethal accessories.
Banning the sale of silencers
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 Silencers suppress the noise from gunfire and cover the muzzle flash. They make it
more difficult for potential witnesses and law enforcement to locate gunfire. Currently,
silencers must be registered with the ATF, but eight states and the District of Columbia
have banned them despite the federal registry. The federal should ban silencers
because they enable criminals, make the jobs of law enforcement harder, and do not
serve the overall public good.
Bringing back the assault weapons ban
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Assault weapons are responsible for one out of five police deaths. Mass shootings
involving assault weapons or high-capacity magazines lead to an average of 155%
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more injuries. Assault weapons were used in many of our nation’s most deadly mass
shootings including those at the Las Vegas Harvest Music Festival, Sandy Hook
Elementary School, and the Aurora Theater. It’s time for Congress to enact a
meaningful and effective assault weapons ban that builds on the previous legislation
that expired in 2004. If the original ban had not been allowed to lapse, fewer assault
weapons would be on the streets, mass shootings would be less devastating, and our
law enforcement would be safer.
As President, Hickenlooper would support and sign into law the ​Assault Weapons Ban
of 2019​ ​(S.66), introduced by Senators Feinstein, Murphy and Blumenthal that
thoughtfully addresses many of the ways the gun industry found to evade the prior law
while also providing exemptions for 2,200 guns for hunting, household defense or
recreational purposes.
Outlaw the manufacture of ghost guns and 3-D printed guns
3D printing has opened the door for new dangerous firearms. Printable guns are
untraceable and often made with so little metal that even metal detectors fail to notice
them. Meanwhile, other firearms are easily assembled from kits that can be ordered
online. These guns also provide a convenient way for criminals to get around the
background check system or to produce illegal firearms. These printed firearms also
make it difficult for law enforcement because traditionally they can track where a firearm
was produced and first sold based on the gun’s serial number. It’s time the federal
government bans the creation of these firearms and works harder to prevent the
proliferation of the plans to print them.

Keeping Our Schools Safe
Prevent gun violence in our schools​.
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 We need a comprehensive effort to strengthen prevention in the epidemic of school
shootings. This is a recurring tragedy that has taken too many lives of our young
people and traumatized millions more. We applaud the bravery of our students and
educators and first-responders, but we need to do more to keep them safe. Governor
Hickenlooper supports actions to:
Expand access to mental health services in our schools and communities
Fewer than one out of six children (16%) receive any mental health services. Untreated
or poorly managed childhood mental health disorders have significant consequences
not only for the child and family but also for a range of systems, including health care,
child welfare, and juvenile justice systems and public education. While people living with
mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators, any
comprehensive strategy to prevent gun violence must include mental health supports.
The expansion of Medicaid has increased the funding available to Medicaid managed
care programs and community health centers to broaden and better integrate behavioral
health services.
President Trump has proposed deep, devastating cuts in Medicaid funding, the single
largest funder of mental health services in the country. President Hickenlooper would
lead in the opposite direction, recognizing the critical importance of all sources of
federal funding for mental health services including federal matches of state Medicaid
and CHIP spending and Mental Health Block Grants that support community mental
health services to fully fund and support quality, innovation and universal access to
mental health services.
Additionally, President Hickenlooper would seek to leverage and direct Medicaid funds
toward preventive behavioral health integration in pediatric primary care and schoolbased health centers. President Hickenlooper would ​overhaul payments for children’s
health care so that quality and outcomes are rewarded—rather than the quantity of care
delivered—which would have a positive impact on children’s health.
Establish threat assessment teams nationwide
Launch a “national program to train and support school- and community-based threat
assessment teams that include mental health and law enforcement partners. Threat
assessment programs should include practical channels of communication for persons
to report potential threats as well as interventions to resolve conflicts and assist troubled
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individuals.”
Bring Colorado’s Successful “Safe 2 Tell” Program to Every School
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 The Safe 2 Tell program in Colorado is an anonymous way for students, parents,
teachers and community members to report safety concerns. It is similar to the federal
Crime Stoppers program, but school and youth focused. The program has an
anonymous phone line, app, and website that allow people to report their concerns
whenever and however they think is best. The program has been wildly successful in
Colorado leading to thousands of reports. Each year concerns about suicides, bullying,
substance abuse, planned attacks, domestic abuse, child abuse, and many more are
reported. The program is centered around informing youth that this is a safe way for
them to report concerns without fear of punishment. As President, John Hickenlooper
will work with states to create a national Safe 2 Tell program so that we can prevent
tragedies everywhere.
Long term support for survivors and first responders
While federal funding is currently provided to support survivors and victims’ families in
the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting, the terrible recent losses make clear those
resources need to be available long-term. We need to provide trauma-informed care
and ongoing support for victims based on a clinical assessment of need.

Liability for Manufacturers and Dealers
Repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA)
In 2005, Congress shielded gun manufacturers from liability. This protection allows gun
manufacturers to ignore basic preventive measures to avoid gun traffickers,
disincentives them to correct and recall defective and potentially products, and to avoid
risky distributors and dealers. The PLCAA needs to be repealed to put gun
manufacturers in the same category as every other business. No private enterprise
should be immune from liability.

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