40-YEAR HIGH

according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

But more surprising is that the rearm-related death rate in 2021 was the highest since at least 1980. e new analysis shows the state recorded 18.2 gun deaths per 100,000 people in 2021, far exceeding any other year in that time span. e pre- interpret unclear language from the legislature but that judges should also steer clear of trying to understand what an entire legislative body intended to do when passing a bill.

“If they write poorly, we’re stuck with it,” he said. “We’ve got to enforce it as they wrote it — as they wrote it poorly. at’s just the way it is. at’s the law.”

Poorly written bills have caused problems for the legislature in the past, with errors requiring lawmakers to revisit policies to correct issues.

In 2017, for instance, lawmakers passed a bill that unintentionally blocked dozens of government entities, like the Regional Transportation District and Scienti c and Cultural Facilities District, from collecting revenue from the state’s recreational marijuana sales tax. Lawmakers had to come back for a special session to attempt to x the vious high was in 1981, at 16.3 deaths per 100,000 people. ese numbers include all deaths caused by rearms — homicides, suicides, accidents and incidents where the intent cannot be determined. ough still preliminary, the rearm-related death rate appears to have declined slightly in 2022. e state will likely have nal data on 2022 deaths next month, and it is possible that the preliminary gure — 16.8 deaths per 100,000 people — could rise as more deaths are ocially recorded. mistake. ( e special session was unsuccessful.) is year, House Speaker Julie McCluskie has brought a bill to x a mistake in a measure passed in 2022 that accidentally limited a housing grant program to making a single grant. e x allows for grants — plural — to be made.

Most lawmakers aren’t attorneys e vast majority of lawmakers in Colorado’s citizen legislature aren’t coming to bill drafting with a background in law. ey are part-time politicians who typically work in the private sector when the legislature isn’t in session.

While some have legal experience, many come from careers in activism, education, business or engineering. ere are ranchers, farmers, an emergency room nurse, a musician and a pharmacist among the chambers’ members.

Rep. Lorena Garcia, an Adams County Democrat, is in her rst e reason we stop the analysis at 1980 is because that’s how far back CDPHE has data on rearm-speci c causes of death. e state does have data on suicides going back to 1940 and homicides back to 1970. But, because those numbers do not record whether a gun was involved in the deaths, they are not comparable to post-1980 numbers.

Gun deaths are increasing across most age groups in the state. e only age group where a trend is di cult to discern is for children from birth year at the Capitol. She was an activist and nonpro t leader before running for o ce. is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun. com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media. through age 9. Deaths in that age range can be few enough in a given year that CDPHE won’t release the actual numbers — it is common in health statistics for small numbers to be withheld for privacy reasons. is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

Without legal training, she said she works to ensure she won’t be tripped up by complex language when drafting her bills, many of which are complicated policy areas like the legislature’s ability to issue subpoenas and immigrants’ ability to access public bene ts.

“We have turned courts into lawmakers, and that’s not what they should be. But we’ve allowed that and we’ve encouraged that by being vague,” Garcia said.