We are all horrified by the tragic Massacre of innocent children and teachers at the Uvalde school in Texas. The Colorado Center Party extends our deepest sympathies to all those in Uvalde as well as the recent shooting in Buffalo. We believe there is more that can be done to prevent such tragedies. The combination of guns, mentally ill individuals and criminals, is deadly all too often. Making progress on this seemingly unsolvable problem will require pulling in both sides to the middle, engaging in good faith dialog for wider agreement instead of political gamesmanship with oversimplified platitudes.

We believe a proper path forward would include these principles:

• The second Amendment to keep and bear arms should remain intact, but we already know that it does not cover personal ownership of certain military grade equipment, and so the list of what is illegal to possess might need changing.
• If we can’t outlaw assault rifles, then as least apply a higher level of background check or mental fitness evaluations to these more lethal weapon types.
• A guarantee of due process if a person’s 2^nd amendment rights are to be denied due to a mental evaluation through a red flag law.
• Better government monitoring of social media and school official referral to identify potentially mentally ill individuals ahead of time and using that to trigger a due process action ( red flag law ) to restrict gun possession by these individuals.
• Holding parents accountable to some degree for not alerting mental health authorities when their dependents show signs of violent tendencies.
• Re-evaluating the appropriate age for gun possession.
• Re-evaluate the proper amount of school security with School Resource Officers or trained and armed school administrators and teachers, and at least consistent and annual training.