COFIPS includes questions across five main categories: Firearms culture (familiarity with and exposure to firearms), perceptions of and concerns about firearm injury and violence, knowledge and attitudes about firearms and firearm injury prevention, awareness of and opinions on practices and policies aimed at reducing firearm-related harms, and responsible firearm ownership and secure storage behaviors within households that have firearms.

You can download the full list of questions here.

To be eligible for the COFIPS survey, participants must be non-institutionalized adults (ages 18 and older) residing in Colorado at the time of survey distribution.

To obtain an anonymous, representative sample of eligible Coloradans, the University of Colorado School of Medicine Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative and Colorado School of Public Health Injury & Violence Prevention Center partners with an external survey research firm with an existing panel of survey respondents. This means that participants must be an existing survey panel member or receive an invitation from the external survey research firm to complete the survey. Existing survey panel members and those that receive COFIPS invites are randomly selected using methods that ensure survey responses represent the population of interest – in this case, Coloradans – and reduce bias.

Given the use of a survey panel, Coloradans cannot self-enroll into the COFIPS survey, but we are interested in your perspective! Please share your thoughts on the data by submitting the contact form.

A survey panel is a large collection of people who have agreed to share their opinions on a wide range of topics by participating in surveys regularly. They are a pre-assembled group that researchers can contact when they want to learn more about thoughts, perceptions, or actions of a group of people.

These groups are created and managed by companies that specialize in conducting surveys. Participants are invited to join the panel and provide basic demographic information (age, gender, etc.) to receive survey invitations. Survey panels include a wide range of individuals with diverse backgrounds.

Using an existing survey panel developed by an established and reputable company that specializes in survey research helps ensure a representative sample. To be part of the survey panel, individuals agree to share demographic information. By doing this, the survey research company can then ensure the COFIPS is completed by a group of people whose demographics mirror that of Colorado as a whole.

If not enough people respond for a particular demographic category, the results for respondents in that group are given a little extra “weight.” This allows responses to be more accurate and reflective of the entire group of people of interest.

Neither the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative nor the Injury & Violence Prevention Center use COFIPS data to advocate for specific policies, legislation, or politicians. The research teams behind COFIPS study firearm injury and death in Colorado to identify effective collaborative approaches, informed by data, for reducing the number of Coloradans experiencing a variety of firearm-related harms (e.g., suicide, homicide, theft).

Inaugural COFIPS data tells us that many Coloradans personally own or live in a home with a firearm. The question is not “how do we remove all of these firearms?”, but rather “in a world with firearms, what can be done to most effectively prevent individuals from experiencing fatal and non-fatal injuries involving firearms and related harms?”

COFIPS is conducted by research teams at the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the Injury & Violence Prevention Center at the Colorado School of Public Health. COFIPS is possible due to funding from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP).

A version of COFIPS will be administered every Spring. The population invited to participate will rotate biennially, with odd years collecting information from a state representative sample (adults 18+) and even years collecting information from a specialty group (e.g., law enforcement officers, medical providers, etc.).

This site, and the information it contains, encourages all Coloradans to access COFIPS data to learn more about firearm-related injuries and deaths in the state and consider how they can contribute to their prevention - there is a role for everyone!

Additionally, COFIPS data can be used to:

• Guide prevention programs and initiatives

• Identify opportunities to education Coloradans on firearm injury and prevention

• Support community organizations applying for grant funding

• Inform decision-making about policies and investments addressing firearm injury and violence

Have a question about how to use COFIPS to support your efforts? Contact us.

It is normal for surveys to have potential limitations, COFIPS included. COFIPS participants shared their own experiences, and it is possible that some participants may not have remembered things correctly or may have chosen not to answer honestly.

Also, the survey was offered in English and Spanish, so Coloradans who speak other languages may not have had an opportunity to participate. While COFIPS was designed to be representative of the Colorado adult population, it is possible that some groups were still under-represented.

Please submit your thoughts, questions, and/or concerns via the contact form or e-mail us at firearm.injury@cuanschutz.edu.

Please submit any questions about COFIPS via the contact form or e-mail us at firearm.injury@cuanschutz.edu.