KK Proposal – The tax erodes gun rights. It is essential for the victims of crime in Colorado.

Don’t tax gun owners who exercise their rights

Regarding: “Funding services for gun tax victims”, editorial from October 27

The Denver Post supports a massive tax increase on guns and ammunition sold in Colorado. The supposed idea behind Proposition KK is to provide services to crime victims. These victim services are already offered by cities and counties in Colorado. And what guarantee is there that the Democrat-controlled state government won’t use these tax revenues for some other wild idea?

I know the true purpose of this increase is to curtail someone’s Second Amendment rights.

If The Denver Post is so concerned about victims’ rights, then The Post should support a crackdown on crime. If funding victim services is that big of a problem, Democrats can find the funding in the $40 billion state budget.

Coloradans must do more with less. Our government can do that too. Vote no on KK proposal.

Jeff Jasper, Westminster

I can pretty much guarantee that the creator of Prop. KK is a liberal, gun-hating Democratic politician who wouldn’t know which end of a gun the bullet comes out of. Instead of taxing law-abiding gun owners who buy ammunition for recreational shooting and hunting, or for defense, why not just reallocate a portion of Colorado’s $40 billion annual budget to provide “services”? Oh! I forgot. No Democratic politician has ever seen a tax he or she didn’t like.

Richard D VanOrsdale, Broomfield

There is a need for funding for victim support

At the age of 14, I was not taught or told anything about consent. I was not taught that I had the ability to say no and that that should be respected. It wasn’t until two years of working as an advocate for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and the launch of the #MeToo movement that I finally identified myself as a sexual assault survivor and said #MeToo. My abuser didn’t listen when I said no over and over again in my living room, while my parent was in the other room.

Prop KK will fund prevention programs to educate youth about understanding and practicing consent, creating boundaries, healthy relationships, and the ability to recognize red and green flags within relationships. This programming empowers youth to recognize the warning signs, such as those that emerged in the relationship with my abuser. I think about what this programming could have done for me as a teenager.

As an advocate for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, I know how crucial and lifesaving victim services are in our communities. In addition to supporting the main victims, children of domestic violence receive the necessary support to break the cycle of violence in their own lives.

I urge my fellow Coloradans to vote yes on Proposition KK this November. Together we can break the cycle of violence and build a better future for all.

Courtney Sutton, Colorado Springs

Let’s set the record straight about the judges on the ballot

Colorado voters have a say in retaining our judges – don’t let this pass. There is helpful information available from Colorado’s Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation in the Voter Blue Book and online at KnowYourJudge.com.

This information is collected by judicial performance commissions throughout Colorado. These bipartisan commissions are made up of citizens – not judges. They are appointed by various authorities, including legislators from both sides of the aisle, our state’s chief justice, and the governor.

Commissioners are your neighbors and colleagues, and they take seriously their duty to hold the judges who serve your community to established performance standards.

The commissioners put in hours of volunteer work evaluating judges and providing a summary of their findings to voters. They look at multiple data points, including observations of judges in the courtroom, review of rulings, surveys and interviews with attorneys and others who have had contact with the judges, and interviews with the judges. It is an in-depth evaluation process that provides voters with insight and helps judges do their jobs better.