Colorado Governor addresses gun violence in schools after tragedy at Texas Elementary School

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- While Colorado Governor Jared Polis was in Pueblo Friday signing multiple bills into law, he talked about what laws and resources are in place to ensure children are protected from gun violence in schools.

Since an 18-year-old in Uvalde, Texas killed 19 children, there have been three incidents involving guns or threats made to Colorado schools.

Wednesday, a 14-year-old was arrested for making shooting threats to Casey Middle School in Boulder. Thursday, Northfield High School was placed on lockdown after a paintball gun was found on campus. Two suspects were taken into custody in that incident, according to police. Friday, a juvenile in Pueblo was arrested for being in possession of a handgun near East High School.

In all three incidents, there were no injuries reported.

"Colorado takes school safety very seriously," Polis said. "What we want to look at is data based solutions."

Polis told KRDO that Colorado legislators are devoting millions of dollars to the issue. He hopes that putting money into the hands of local school districts will aid in the effort.

"It's up to school districts how they use that, but doing things like making sure that there is a single point of entry, exits, safety rooms," Polis said.

The Governor mentioned Colorado's Red Flag Law, which helps identify who needs help and what resources are at their disposable.

"If somebody is in a mental health crisis, and they are over 18, it provides a way that the parents, for instance, can temporarily remove guns from their kid if they are worried about their 18 or 19-year-old," Polis said. "If the kid is under 18, 17 or under, the parents can do that on their own. That's their ability to do that as parents."

There have been multiple laws passed in the 2021 Colorado Legislative Session to address gun violence. Colorado Senate President Stephen Fenberg told our news partner in Denver that outlawing assault rifles throughout the state is not out of the question.

"We could pass an assault weapon ban at the state level. I support that, but is that going to save the most lives? Probably not," Fenberg said. "There are probably already tens of thousands of assault weapons already here, and you drive an hour and a half north and purchase them."