Editor's note: This story was originally published by Colorado Newsline. Read the original story here
BOULDER, Colo. -- After last week's mass shooting in Boulder, advocates for gun safety are calling on both state and federal lawmakers to take meaningful action to curb the nation's gun-violence epidemic.
The shooter killed ten people at a King Soopers grocery store with a pistol that resembled an AR-15 rifle, on the heels of a mass shooting in Georgia that killed eight people, six of them Asian women.
Abbey Winter, Colorado chapter lead for the group Moms Demand Action, noted while Colorado has passed some common-sense gun laws in recent years, including background checks and a red-flag law, it has been 25 years since the federal government has taken action on gun safety.
"We're a contiguous country, and we're only as safe as our closest state, and how strong their gun laws are," Winter contended. "So we need federal action, because we see it as a nationwide public health issue."
She urged the U.S. Senate to act on legislation the House passed this month to strengthen background checks and close important loopholes.
In Colorado this session, bills are in the works to require gun owners to report any lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement within 48 hours, as well as measures to secure firearm storage.
In 2019, nearly 900 Coloradans were killed by gun violence, and Winter noted the number has gone up during the pandemic.
She added while mass shootings tend to capture headlines, it's critical to also focus on instances of gun violence that impact communities across the country every day.
"I also want to pay attention to the 100 people who die every day from gun violence, most of the time, not making the headlines," Winter remarked. "Ten of those on average a day are children in this country."
She emphasized one policy is not going to cover all the complexities of gun violence in the U.S. Rather, she argued, it will take a myriad of smart, evidence-based approaches.
