On the long gun side, we know too that the AR-15 rifle is one of the most popular guns in United States, and probably accounts for a large portion of sales in Colorado too.

In terms of a “sporting rifle,” it's easy to shoot, many find it appealing because of its military-style appearance, and it's one of the most customizable firearms on the market with lots of options for scopes, stocks, etc.

The AR-15 is also often implicated in mass shootings, and become a target for criticism from gun control advocates, which gun stores say only incentivizes even more purchases for fear it would be banned.

Do we know anything about who is buying guns in Colorado?

Data on this is not collected or is not available.

It’s not a question on the U.S. Census or regular Center for Disease Control surveys. Based on a 2013 YouGov survey, an estimated 34 percent of Coloradans own a firearm. Though the survey is old, it’s not clear if that percentage has changed much since many customers buying in the last few years may already own a gun.

When it comes to the demographic breakdown, a recent Pew Research Center survey offers a sense of the average gun owner. Most are white, male, they vote Republican, and many live in rural households.

There is no good data on gun ownership by county in Colorado. However, gun ownership is closely correlated with gun deaths. And the counties with the highest rates of gun deaths are on the western border with Utah, the mountains (from Grand to Fremont County), and in the San Luis Valley.

Most of those are suicides. In 2017, 77 percent of Colorado’s 749 gun deaths were suicide, according to Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

What do we know about how gun groups contribute to political campaigns here?

This gets a lot of attention, but gun groups aren’t in the same league as other political contributors, like energy companies, when it comes to state races. The NRA does spend big on federal races, GOP U.S. Senator Cory Gardner has received $3.88 million for instance.

But a search of records for state races shows the NRA has spent $1.4 million in campaign money here, mostly spent during the 2014 elections. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners raised and spent less than $400,000.

On the other hand, money also comes in from pro-gun control groups. Michael Bloomberg, a strong gun control advocate, has contributed more than $1 million in the state. Much of it went to help two state lawmakers who faced a recall election for supporting gun control measures in 2013. More recently, Bloomberg also pledged to help Mike Johnston’s 2018 run for governor. Johnston has made guns a central part of his platform.