Senator Sullivan moved and the Senate advanced Senate Bill 59 on second reading on Feb. 7, 2025, a measure that would create a statewide definition of “mass shooting” and direct state efforts to expand services and access to federal grant money for victims and survivors.

Advocates and the bill’s sponsor told the Senate that a single, consistent statewide definition is intended to make it easier for victims of shootings that do not make national headlines to access services. "Most mass shootings don't make it to the front page of 97 newspapers across the country like the day my son Alex was murdered," Senator Sullivan said, arguing that many victims of smaller-scale or local shootings receive comparable trauma but lack access to resources tied to a formal designation. The bill defines a mass shooting as at least four people other than the shooter who are injured or killed by a firearm.

The bill’s text, as read into the record, also asks the Colorado Department of Public Safety to apply for and expand federal and other grant money available to support victims of mass shootings. During floor remarks Senator Sullivan emphasized the range of harms and the need for a consistent definition to improve data quality and service delivery, saying that a statewide standard would help reconcile differing counts from sources such as the FBI and private databases.

On the floor the motion to adopt Senate Bill 59 on second reading was made by Senator Sullivan and carried by voice vote; later the Committee of the Whole reported that Senate Bill 59 passed on second reading and was ordered engrossed and placed on the calendar for third reading and final passage. The Committee of the Whole report that included SB59 was later adopted by recorded vote: 21 ayes, 10 noes, 0 absent, and 4 excused.

The measure does not become law with this action; ordering a bill "engrossed" moves it toward third reading and final passage. No committee amendments to SB59 were read in the transcript excerpt, and no final passage vote is recorded in the provided transcript.

The discussion on the floor focused on the proposed definition and victims’ access to services; the transcript does not record additional amendments, fiscal notes, or implementation dates for the programmatic direction to the Department of Public Safety.

If enacted, the bill would explicitly standardize the mass-shooting threshold in state law and direct the Department of Public Safety to seek available funds to support survivors and victims. Further action — third reading and a final passage vote — is required before the bill could be enrolled and sent to the governor.