REMOTE (Dec. 21. 2022): The Office of Gun Violence Prevention within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is partnering with researchers from the Injury and Violence Prevention Center in the Colorado School of Public Health to create and maintain a resource bank of regularly updated and accurate materials regarding gun violence in Colorado.
The resource bank website will serve as a gun violence prevention hub that is responsive to community needs and usable by diverse audiences. It will contain a repository of research and statistical information, including an interactive dashboard with data related to firearm injury and death in the state.
“We believe this resource bank will be a useful public health tool for researchers, government officials, and community organizations. But it’s also important that this potentially life-saving resource can be easily used by members of the general public who want to learn more about what they can do to prevent gun injuries and deaths within their own families and communities,” said Jonathan McMillan, director of CDPHE’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention. “We believe this resource bank will help Coloradans understand safe gun storage practices and protection orders as well as available mental health and substance use treatment services.”
The initiative is developed in partnership with the Injury and Violence Prevention Center, which includes faculty and other research staff from the Colorado School of Public Health and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
“This resource bank is the first of its kind in that it will be developed through a state government/academic university partnership with engagement of communities and leaders across Colorado,” said Dr. Emmy Betz, MD, MPH, CU professor of emergency medicine and epidemiology, deputy director of the Injury and Violence Prevention Center, and director of the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. “Its content will be the result of a ‘brain trust’ network of leaders and organizations working in firearm injury prevention so that others in Colorado – and the nation – can learn more about firearm injuries and deaths, and how to prevent them.”
Resource bank development is currently underway, with an external website expected to launch during summer of 2023.