The Office Of Gun Violence Prevention Comes to Montezuma County
photo credit National Review
By Sherry Simmons March 25, 2023
On Wednesday, March 15th the night before this scheduled "Gun Violence Protection" meeting, I received a message asking me if I knew about this meeting. I had not read or heard anything about it. After searching for more information I began to message members in our community, who in return messaged their friends. I shared the information with many and asked for attendance. I was quite taken back that no one I contacted knew of this meeting. From what I was able to read about the event, "it was a listening tour." The Office of Gun Violence Prevention ( OGVP) was seeking input/ comments from Montezuma and Dolores residents. I was puzzled at the lack of publicity from the OGVP to the masses of the community.
Through chain messages the information reached many community members. I was feeling better that the community would be more fairly represented at the meeting.
I arrived at the Annex around 5:15. I was immediately happy to see people I knew flooding in. Montezuma County Patriots and myself took out our flags and attached them on our vehicles. Looking at the parking lot it was evident conservatives were present.
I entered along side some good friends. We were happy to see each other and we all were grateful that the message did reach many. This message that took less than 24 hours to spread.
As I stood in the entry, more and more people arrived. People I knew who believe in this Country, our Constitution and Honor God Foremost. I never counted the crowd, but I think a good guess would be 70-80 conservatives. The rest of the attendees were people I recognized but were not included in our message system. I think there were around 15-20. So altogether there were approximately 90-100 attendees.
The meeting began with a brief introduction of the Speaker from OGVP, Jonathon McMillan. He spoke a little about himself and how he was hired for the position.
The OGVP is housed within the Colorado Department of Public Health. The OGVP was launched July 2021 with a 3 million dollar starting budget, due to House Bill 21-1299.
The OGVP is a grant giving administrative body which Governor Polis backed. The grants as Jonathon explained would be given to organizations for projects which would be geared towards gun violence prevention for the youth. photo from Mr. McMillan's twitter
As Mr. McMillan asked if there were any questions, some responded cordially, but were straightforward with their questions. Several people expressed that we the people are fed up with the repetitive stabs at our 2nd amendment coming down the pipe of government.
Mr. McMillan told the crowd there were questions on each table and asked each table to discuss them, and then we would talk after a quick meal. As the attendees ate I approached Mr. McMillan. I introduced myself then pointed to the crowd in the room saying, "See all these people? 80 percent of them were not invited tonight. So you might understand that we are a little unhappy that you tried to come in the backdoor of our community."
Mr. McMillan apologized saying he had relied on his contacts here to get the word out. I suggested he might take it upon himself to make sure voices from both sides of the issue were heard.
My personal opinion is this meeting was not intended to have 2nd amendment voices in the room. But thanks to technology and some very dedicated concerned constitutional minded people the room was full of just that.
There were many powerful statements made that evening, and almost all were pro gun. It was widely agreed that violence in any matter is horrible. Suggestions from the Conservative Audience consisted of;
Hunter safety education brought back to public schools,
Funding for 4H groups
A public shooting range
Trained armed teachers and staff
Retired armed law enforcement officers and Veterans in the halls and on campuses of our schools
Classes on the Constitution of the United States and why it was written and what it took to become reality
Instead of teaching children to hate guns they should be taught about them and why we are able to have them. So much push against guns may lead this nation into the next generation of children who hate guns and may never own one period.
Keeping in mind the OGVP is an entity inside the Health department and the following should be duly noted:
The Public Health office distributed a survey in our public schools. It was called "The healthy kid survey" This survey was awful. It contained questions on sexuality, and private questions about home life. Some of the questions were about guns in the home and did they feel safe? The survey appeared to push sexuality on the children and anti-gun messages.
This appears to fall right into the left's playbook.
The Red Flag Law, as a reminder, is HB19-1177. Extreme Risk Protection Orders: beginning on January 1, 2020, this act created the ability for a family or household member or a law enforcement officer to petition the court for a temporary extreme risk protection order (ERPO). The petitioner must establish by a preponderance of evidence that a person poses a significant risk to self or others by having a firearm in his or her custody or control or by possessing, purchasing, or receiving a firearm. The petitioner must submit an affidavit signed under oath and penalty of perjury that sets forth facts to support the issuance of a temporary ERPO and a reasonable basis for believing they exist. The court must hold a temporary ERPO hearing in person or by telephone on the day the petition is filed or on the court day immediately following the day the petition is filed.
Colorado lawmakers are now debating whether to expand the state’s Extreme Risk Protection Order law, along with two other proposed gun laws.
The biggest proposed changes in this new Bill are:
Expanding the list of people who can initiate the "red flag" process.
Requiring the state to spend money on a public education campaign about the law. (so lets say it like it is....to advertise)
The new bill enlarges just who can file a report, allowing a range of new professionals to file the petitions, including psychologists, social workers, family therapists, counselors, doctors, physician assistants, teachers, school counselors, administrators, school nurses and college faculty, and district attorneys, among others
So here we see how the healthy kids survey connects the OGVP to the teachers to the children. Pretty sneaky if you ask me but then again I'm not surprised.
Lets have a scenario...imagine a class sitting in a circle while the teachers speaks of gun violence, the dangers etc...little Johnny raises his hand and tells the teachers something that happened at the family BBQ when uncle Billy fired his gun, or how dad is taking him and his 5yrd old sister to shoot guns on Saturday. It is now possible for the teacher to determine in her own views if that child's family should be reported. Not only does this allow someone from the outside to file but it comes by a third party via a juvenile.
All eyes should be on the continued war against the 2nd amendment. The only thing which stands between the American people and total control by the government is our 2nd Amendment.
