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September 12, 2019
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ELBERT COUNTY, COLORADO
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District attorney tackles illegal firearm sales BY JESSICA GIBBS
Brauchler calls for prison time for felons who attempt to obtain guns
W
JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
hen it comes to preventing gun violence, the cause hits close to home for District Attorney George Brauchler. Brauchler has watched his 18th Judicial District endure multiple high-profile tragedies in recent years: the Aurora theater shooting; the fatal attack by a gunman at Arapahoe High School; the shooting death of Deputy Zackari Parrish; and most recently, the STEM School Highlands Ranch attack in which a student was fatally shot and eight others were wounded. “I just remain baffled that some of these most noteworthy, most horrific acts of violence have taken place in, you know, the community I grew up in. The community that my kids are growing up in,” Brauchler said. “I know these people. They’ve been my neighbors and my community for my life, and I just don’t understand why so much of it is happening here. Why us?” Brauchler, a Republican who lives in Parker, is trying to do what he can, he said, without getting caught up or held back by hyperpartisan, hypercontentious debates over gun rights. In the days after mass shootings in early August devastated El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, Brauchler formed a plan to tackle gun violence in his district — but not through hotly debated approaches like an assault-weapons ban or raising the age at which one can purchase firearms. Rather, he decided to lean on existing state laws, and he specifically sharpened his gaze on the illegal sale of firearms, which is attempted thousands of times in Colorado each year. In short, Brauchler wants diligent and early investigations into illegal firearm sales. He wants prison time for felons who try to or successfully obtain guns, instead of probation sentences laws hand down now.
FILE PHOTO
SEE BRAUCHLER, P2
Bloodhound, handler pitch in to help Duo help police agencies for free with tracking, cold cases, missing persons BY TABATHA STEWART SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Elbert County resident Frank Hurst got his first bloodhound, Red, 19 years
ago. Red was a gift from his wife Lisa, and the adorable pup was the beginning of Hurst’s career as a K-9 handler, during which Hurst and his dogs helped find missing persons, solve cold cases and track criminals. After retiring from law enforcement five years ago, Hurst and three other K-9 handlers founded the nonprofit Bloodhound Man-Trackers Inc., to donate services to agencies who couldn’t afford their own bloodhounds. Hiring
a handler and hound can cost hundreds of dollars each day. “There’s really no money in having a bloodhound on the force,” said Hurst. “For instance, if a drug dog hits on property where drugs are hidden, the property can be seized and sold, with the money going back to the agency. Bloodhounds are used to find missing people, criminals or solve cold cases. There’s no money involved with finding a missing person.”
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Hurst and his buddies realized the need for bloodhound services, and since starting then nonprofit have assisted, free of charge, more than 45 agencies around the United States. “I got a call one day, an 80-yearold woman with dementia had gone missing. It was cold outside, about 30 degrees, and she was barefoot and not dressed for the cold,” said Hurst. SEE BLOODHOUND, P7
The Colorado State Forest Service is reporting that the changing leaves this fall will be especially striking this year.
VOICES: PAGE 8 | LIFE: PAGE 10 | CALENDAR: PAGE 6
ElbertCountyNews.net
VOLUME 124 | ISSUE 32