Our Work
| Acceptability and Feasibility of a Peer-to-Peer Firearm-Specific Means Safety Intervention | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Simonetti |
| Description / Aims | This study aims to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a veteran-to-veteran firearm safety suicide prevention intervention. |
| Funding Agency | VA Clinical Science Research and Development |
| A Micro-and Macro Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Extreme Risk Protection Orders in Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Knoepke, Barnard, Huss |
| Description / Aims | This study will focus on the way ERPO laws work and how they fall short in their intended effects on firearm mortality.  |
| Funding Agency | National Institute of Justice |
| A Stakeholder and Data-Engaged Approach to Improving Uptake of Extreme Risk Protection Orders Among Law Enforcement in Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Knoepke, Betz |
| Description / Aims | The aim of this study is to better understand and operationalize law enforcement officers training for Extreme risk protection orders. |
| Funding Agency | Fund for a Safer Future |
| Completing the Causal Chain of ERPO Effectiveness: A Parallel Mixed-Method Study | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Knoepke, Huss, Barnard |
| Description / Aims | Goals are to evaluate ERPO effectiveness according to 1) whether criminal justice and death outcomes differ between those for whom orders are granted and when they're denied and 2) whether and how documentation of firearm relinquishment is occurring when orders are granted. |
| Funding Agency | National Collaborative for Gun Violence Research |
| Developing Artificial Intelligence Methods to Identify Firearm and Substance Use Suicide Risk Factors in the VHA EMR | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Simonetti |
| Description / Aims | The aim of this study is to use natural language processing and machine learning methods to identify important suicide risk factors located in free-text EMR entries. |
| Funding Agency | VA Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention |
| Development & Testing of a Veteran-Centered Lethal Means Safety Suicide Prevention Intervention | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Simonetti, Betz |
| Description / Aims | This study aims to develop and test a lethal means safety intervention in VHA ED settings. |
| Funding Agency | VA Health Services Research & Development |
| Firearm Injury Prevention Research in Nursing (FIPRN) Scholars Program | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Betz, Brooks-Russell |
| Description / Aims | This study will develop and launch our Firearm Injury Prevention Research in Nursing (FIPRN) Scholars Program, which will prepare an inaugural cohort with specialized skills, innovative approaches, and interdisciplinary perspectives to advance impactful research in our field. |
| Funding Agency | National Institute of Nursing Research |
| Firearm Movement Detection System | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Wright-Kelly, Stanley |
| Description / Aims | This study will field test a patent-pending firearm movement detection system designed to alert firearm owners and designated contacts of unauthorized access, in partnership with Regal Products. |
| Funding Agency | VHA Innovation Ecosystem and the VA’s Office of Suicide Prevention |
| Firearm Safety in PTSD (FaSP): A Randomized Controlled Trial of Lethal Means Safety Counseling Among Service Members and Civilians with PTSD | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Stanley |
| Description / Aims | The primary objective is to evaluate the efficacy of Firearm Safety in PTSD (FaSP), a brief lethal means safety counseling intervention that therapeutically targets PTSD-related exaggerated perceptions of threat to promote safe firearm storage
practices, for firearm-owning service members and civilians with PTSD. |
| Funding Agency | Department of Defense |
| Identifying Optimal Messengers to Prevent Firearm-Related Suicide: Delivery of Lethal Means Safety Counseling by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Personnel | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Stanley |
| Description / Aims | This study will gather emergency medical services (EMS) stakeholder feedback regarding the acceptability and feasibility of EMS-delivered lethal means safety interventions focused on secure firearm storage. |
| Funding Agency | New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center |
| Incentivizing Lethal Means Safety Among Veterans at Risk for Suicide | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Simonetti |
| Description / Aims | This study seeks to test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of using incentives-based interventions to motivate changes in firearm storage practices among veterans with elevated suicide risk. |
| Funding Agency | VA Health Services Research and Development Service |
| Mental health phenotypes shaped by adverse experiences, symptom severity, and individual characteristics among recent immigrant adults from Latin America | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Vargas |
| Description / Aims | |
| Funding Agency | National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities |
| Partnering with Firearm Retailers to Provide Discounted Firearm Locking Devices for Veteran Suicide Prevention | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Kelly, Stanley |
| Description / Aims | This study aims to inform researchers on whether a financial discount breaks down a barrier for customers to purchase a locking device, and further research could test the effectiveness of the discount on a larger scale. |
| Funding Agency | United Services Automobile Association and Face the Fight |
| Pause to Protect: Building Partnerships Between Military Installations and Nearby Firearm Ranges/Retailers | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Betz, Kelly, Simonetti, Knoepke, Stanley |
| Description / Aims | This study will develop partner networks of civilian firearm ranges/retailers linked to five military installations in the United States to support lethal means safety education and responsible firearm ownership promotion with service members and their families. |
| Funding Agency | U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Suicide Prevention Office and USAA's Face the Fight Foundation |
| Protective Environments: Military Community Engagement to Prevent Firearm-Related Violence | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Betz, Stanley |
| Description / Aims | This study aims to adapt the Project Safe Guard intervention for universal delivery and testing at Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, CO. |
| Funding Agency | U.S. Department of Defense/Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium |
| Safety in Dementia: An Online Caregiver Intervention | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Betz, Knoepke |
| Description / Aims | This study aims to learn more about the decisions that take place when people begin to think about removing firearms from the home as they age and create resources and other support tools to help families plan for what to do about firearms in the home in the future. |
| Funding Agency | National Institute on Aging |
| SECuRe: Securing the Environment, Connecting to Reduce Risk | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Betz, Stanley |
| Description / Aims | The SECuRe study aims to adapt and pilot the Lock to Live (L2L) firearm and medication storage decision-making tool for use within the Military Health System. |
| Funding Agency | U.S. Department of Defense/ Air Force Research Laboratory |
| State-Academic Partnership Opportunities for the Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå Office of Gun Violence Prevention | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Betz, Kelly |
| Description / Aims | This project supports the Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå Office of Gun Violence Prevention in fulfilling the expectations laid out in Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå House Bill 21-1299, including the development and maintenance of a resource bank as a repository for data, research, and statistical information regarding firearm injuries and deaths, and their prevention, in Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå. |
| Funding Agency | Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå Department of Public Health & Environment |
| Support for Missouri Communities to Examine and Explore Firearm Violence | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Kelly |
| Description / Aims | The aim of this study is to support two Missouri communities to develop tailored data collection methods and tools used to facilitate community conversations to understand how local community members perceive firearm injury and violence and identify ways in which the communities may collectively prevent firearm injury and death in the future. |
| Funding Agency | Missouri Foundation for Health |
| Understanding Experiences of Military Families to Inform Youth Firearm Injury Prevention | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Stanley |
| Description / Aims | This study seeks to understand the unique experiences of military families regarding personal firearm storage, through mixed-methods qualitative interviews and surveys with both military parents and youths, as well as a landscape analysis of existing military-focused youth injury prevention policies and programs in both the US Department of Defense (DoD) and civilian sector. |
| Funding Agency | New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center |
| Understanding Reasons for Recent Firearm Purchasing Among Black Americans | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Simonetti |
| Description / Aims | The aim of this pilot study is to explore perspectives on firearm purchasing and ownership among Black Americans who recently acquired a firearm. |
| Funding Agency | University of Pennsylvania INSPIRE Center |
| VetStore: Secure Firearm Storage for Veterans When They Need It, Where They Want It, In Places They Trust | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Kelly |
| Description / Aims | The aim of this project is to develop, test, and scale-up the VetStore program, which educates and connects Veterans and their families to secure firearm storage devices. |
| Funding Agency | Mission Daybreak Grand Challenge, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs |
| VHA Service Use Proximal to Firearm Suicide Among U.S. Veterans | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Simonetti, Holliday |
| Description / Aims | This study will focus on identifying sites and frequency of care among veterans who died by firearm suicide between 2015-2021, as well as identifying clinical population phenotypes. |
| Funding Agency | VA Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention |
The Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå Firearm Injury Prevention Survey (COFIPS) is an anonymous, online questionnaire that provides comprehensive, Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå-specific data and insight into the impact and prevention of firearm-involved harms in our state. FIPI, in partnership with the Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå School of Public Health Injury & Violence Prevention Center, leads the COFIPS effort, which will be conducted annually.
In addition to leading data collection and analysis, FIPI is committed to releasing this data and related resources to the public, via the .
County workers who provide home-visit public health services, such as Child Protective Services or services for parents of newborns, may be in a unique position to encourage firearm safety and overdose prevention within the home. In response to this opportunity, FIPI has partnered with local public health departments in Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå to develop the SafeHomesCO program.
SafeHomesCO includes a novel training designed to equip county employees with the knowledge and skills to discuss firearm injury and opioid overdose risk with parents, guardians, and caretakers. The program also includes the provision of safety kits to households which contain: firearm storage devices, such as firearm lockboxes and cable locks, and educational material for households that encourage secure storage of firearms and medications, as well as information on Narcan use (a medication that treats an opioid overdose). To further encourage households to secure their firearms, FIPI also developed a that instructs firearm users on the appropriate application of firearm locking devices.
SafeHomesCO is currently being and is initiating trainings in other Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå counties. An early evaluation of the program indicates that those who were trained demonstrated increased knowledge of firearm injury prevention topics. Trained county employees reported the training was relevant and beneficial, and increased their preparedness to have conversations about firearm storage with families. County employees also noted that the ability to provide the SafeHomesCO safety kits served as a helpful ‘conversation starter’ and were useful in introducing the topic of firearm safety with parents, guardians, and caretakers.
If you are interested in learning more about SafeHomesCO or would like to discuss bringing the program to your county, please contact joseph.simonetti@cuanschutz.edu.
The Firearm Injury Prevention Leadership Engagement and Development (FIP-LEAD) program is designed to build a generation of multidisciplinary leaders who can inspire action and integrate firearm-related injury prevention efforts in their communities.
Those that complete FIP-LEAD will have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to lead their organizations in implementing firearm-related injury prevention efforts that are grounded in science, relevant for their professional and community context, and respectful of the diverse opinions and lived experiences that surround firearm culture in CO.
To request a FIP-LEAD workshop for your organization or community, please contact us at firearm.injury@cuanschutz.edu.
Who should attend a FIP-LEAD workshop?
The ideal participant has informal or formal influence on their organization/community’s approach to and involvement in firearm-related injury prevention efforts.
Who facilitates FIP-LEAD workshops?
Workshops are led by CU Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative (FIPI) faculty/staff and are tailored to each professional sector. FIPI also handles planning and logistics.
What do FIP-LEAD workshops cost?
The cost of hosting a workshop varies based on location and group size. Please contact us to learn more.
Where are FIP-LEAD workshops held?
Workshops are in-person, either at your organization/location or on the University of Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå (CU) Anschutz Medical Campus.
On an ongoing basis, FIPI hosts virtual “office hours” open to any firearm business (shooting ranges, retailers, instructors, etc.) owners or operators interested in learning more about how to become community leaders in reducing firearm-involved injuries and deaths by providing customer education and/or offering community services (on-site storage, free or reduced locking devices). This informal setting facilitates opportunities for discussion and Q&A with firearm retail, secure storage, and suicide prevention experts and peer businesses.
Sessions are led by:
- Jacquelyn Clark: Founder & Owner of Bristlecone Shooting, Training, and Retail Center; Firearm Industry Partnership Coordinator for Pause to Protect
- Jehrin Clark: Firearm Industry Partnership Coordinator for Pause to Protect
- Matt Wetenkamp: Collaboration & Partnerships Coordinator for FIPI; USMC Veteran
Office hours are available the first Thursday and third Wednesday of every month at 11am MST. Advanced registration is requested.