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Chris Puehse displays .45-caliber ammunition for sale at his store in Shingle Springs, Calif., in 2019. A 2024 Colorado bill would raise the minimum age to purchase ammunition to 21. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
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Good morning, Sunriser readers!

There’s an ice cream shop one town over that’s the perfect short bike ride away. On dry summer nights it buzzes like a hive of high school worker bees doling out single, double and triple scoops, while every generation of ice cream lover waits patiently in line.

And that line! Some nights it stretches upward of 40 people long, snaking around a big open patio with “no running” signs and children chasing each other every which way. We usually jump right in, adhering flawlessly to that old social contract written as soon as we’re old enough to line up for a cookie at recess.

Last night my boyfriend had a different idea: the order-ahead function on their website. We arrived, parked our bikes, stood around for 10 minutes or so, and then walked straight up to the pickup window to grab our scoops to go.

At first I felt embarrassed — it seemed like we were skipping the kid, breaking that contract, not to mention robbing ourselves of the big dumb line experience. But I couldn’t care for too long with that serving of strawberry ice cream melting into the warm night.

Let’s see what scoops we’ve got for you today.

A graphic showing how much the ingredients in a burger have increased
Demonstrating the use of a cable lock on a handgun. (Provided by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)

Over half of Colorado kids say they could get a loaded gun from extended family, friends, purchase or theft. A third of kids say they can get a gun without adult permission. For researchers, one takeaway is that access is not just about what parents do. It’s about the whole community. John Ingold has more.

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A graphic showing how much the ingredients in a burger have increased
Marcus “MJ” Jiner, left, of Denver, plays a game with classmates and instructors at the graduation day for the Outdoor Belonging Project on Sunday at Lincoln Hills near Nederland. (Carmel Zucker, Special to The Colorado Sun)

Isolation and social divides are widening a rift between kids, Tracy Ross reports. But Colorado teens are forming new connections through car camping, first-aid courses, archery and fire mitigation in the Outdoor Belonging Project. It comes down to bringing young people together and having them work side by side.

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A graphic showing how much the ingredients in a burger have increased
Colorado Parks and Wildlife sampling on the Colorado River found zebra mussel veligers. The river is now considered “positive” for zebra mussels from its confluence with the Roaring Fork River to the Utah state line. (Rachael Gonzales, Colorado Parks and Wildlife)

State officials may have solved the puzzle of how invasive zebra mussels got into the Colorado River, Heather Sackett of Aspen Journalism reports. The search came down to Google maps, many phone calls and a private lake. Officials have contained the main source and are now on the hunt for other mussel populations.

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A graphic showing how much the ingredients in a burger have increased
The Lee and Grease fires burn southwest of Meeker on Monday. (Jed Selby, Special to The Colorado Sun)

Gov. Jared Polis mobilized the National Guard as dry, windy weather stoked two wildfires in northwestern Colorado. The fast-moving Lee fire, Colorado’s largest this year, and the Elk fire have already scorched nearly 60,000 acres and have not reached any level of containment. Olivia Prentzel has the details.

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In “What’d I Miss?” Myra tries to understand the argument against foreign aid but in favor of helping needy Americans — when none seem to fit the description.

CARTOON

Drew Litton examines the hard economics of kids returning to school at the same time fans return to celebrating the team’s turnaround.

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Type of Story: News

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