Last week, I authored a column about why Coloradans should expect high rates of gun violence to continue. I also suggested Republicans were disproportionately responsible for this outcome.

As you might expect, public response fell mostly along party lines.

Many Coloradans thanked me, but Republicans were big mad. How dare I suggest they are the problem when Democrats have been at the helm of Colorado politics for years? Also, if the Democrat’s policies on gun safety worked, then gun violence would stop, so they said.

Countless responses to this effect came in, with one anonymous email to The Colorado Sun summing it up as, “Zornio is right to be concerned about the staggering rise in violent crime across the state over the past decade, but she’s off-target by blaming Republicans for the increased danger that Coloradans are facing. Democrats are in the driver’s seat in Colorado, and they’re the ones leading the state off a cliff when it comes to crime and public safety.”

Nope. Here’s why.

Republicans are correct that Democrats have been in Colorado’s supermajority for a handful of years now. They are also correct that during this time Democrats have introduced a number of gun safety regulations. In the 2024 legislative session alone, Democrats passed eight new gun laws. These included new permit requirements for gun sellers, new restrictions on concealed carry laws and bans on guns at schools, voting booths and the state Capitol.

But Republicans are dead wrong if they think that a short tenure of Democratic leadership would immediately reverse all gun violence after decades of laxity on guns thanks to the NRA-backed Republican Party. That’s absurd. Even still, gun violence is at least starting to level off, albeit at high levels, so perhaps all those brand-spanking new laws are at least starting to take effect after all. Change doesn’t happen overnight.

But riddle me this: What do you think is more effective at reducing gun violence? Bragging about big guns like Republicans do or talking about gun safety like Democrats? Just look at Rep. Lauren Boebert. She doesn’t give a flying saucer about gun safety. If it were up to her, all Americans would be strapping loaded pistols to their hip and letting their kids play with rifles on this year’s Christmas card. Hell, she’s so gun-happy, I wouldn’t put it past her to challenge someone to an actual duel at dawn if it would gain her enough likes on social media.

This is where Republicans went wrong. It’s not just that they fought against gun safety policy at the NRA’s behest — that’s bad enough. It’s that over the years they’ve narrated deadly weapons into political play toys. When was the last time you heard a far-right Republican talk about how to responsibly own and care for a gun while they were in office? Where are the Republican ads that show locked-up gun cabinets and safety checks as part of Second Amendment discussions? 

No. What you see are Republican candidates blasting off big things that go boom on video for fun and posing with guns in absurd locations for attention and political gain. There’s nothing safe or patriotic about that.

This is why Republicans deserve the disproportionate blame for gun violence. By and large, you just don’t see this kind of guns-as-play-toys from Democrats. Democrats talk about gun safety and taking action to stop gun violence. They don’t go around packing heat and causing controversies about it. They just don’t. And it makes a difference.

In time, we’ll see how much of a difference gun safety laws can make. We already know many are effective, and Red Flag Laws in Colorado, for example, are only just starting to be more regularly enforced. Between implementation in 2020 and late 2022, only 359 requests total were made. In 168 cases, guns were temporarily removed. That’s peanuts, but it’s a start, and given the people the guns were confiscated from were saying things like, “I’m going to kill them,” it sure seems like a step in the right direction. Who knows how much higher gun violence would still be climbing if we didn’t have these new laws?

I’ll leave you with this: As a general rule, pointing fingers is ineffective. It’s not my preferred approach. But sometimes it becomes abundantly clear where the problem is and accountability needs to be had. When it comes to gun violence, this is the case. The Republican Party is by and large the driver of the two political parties when it comes to promoting and mainstreaming guns. Now, they have two options. They can either keep digging their heads in the sand or do the right thing and help us dig out of the mass grave they’ve already dug. 

Given the response they had to my last column, I’m not holding my breath.

Trish Zornio is a scientist, lecturer and writer who has worked at some of the nation’s top universities and hospitals. She’s an avid rock climber and was a 2020 candidate for the U.S. Senate in Colorado. Trish can be found on Twitter @trish_zornio

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy. Learn how to submit a column. Reach the opinion editor at opinion@coloradosun.com.

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