Kunc's Colorado Edition

A note: Today’s episode deals with issues around suicide and firearm violence. Over the past decade, Colorado has seen more than 7,000 deaths by suicide that involved a firearm. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, guns are involved in more than half of Colorado’s deaths by suicide. A bill making its way through the state legislature could help reduce those numbers.  The proposal would allow Coloradans to place a voluntary freeze on their own access to buy a gun.  Someone who’s concerned about their mental health could add their own name to a database of people who are ineligible to purchase a firearm.  Colorado’s proposal is based on a national campaign called Donna’s Law. If approved, the bill would make Colorado the fifth state to set up what's known as a Do Not Sell registry.  So, how effective are voluntary programs like this at reducing the risk of suicide with a firearm? Erin O’Toole spoke with two KUNC colleagues: editor and reporter Leigh Paterson, and Chas Sisk, editor of the