A weekend of legislative work on two gun reform bills has resulted in their passage. The bills will now be justified against the legislative versions of the bills passed earlier this month by the Colorado Senate, before heading to Governor Jared Polis’s desk for approval.
Jack Landry, second from left, then a sixth grader at Montessori Charter School in Salida, organized the student demonstration against gun violence on F Street Wednesday, March 14, 2018 .
The two bills were passed by the Democratic party majority after a Republican filibuster attempt was thwarted. The two bills include stronger red flag laws and another bill that will make it easier for Coloradoan victims of gun violence to file suit against gun manufacturers and gun dealers:
SB23-170 will expand eligibility to file for an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) to more individuals who are in a position to recognize when a person is a threat to themselves or others. which will allow more qualified individuals to intervene before gun violence has a chance to occur.
SB23-168 will remove Colorado’s overly-broad immunity protections for gun sellers and manufacturers and allow legitimate lawsuits against the gun industry to move forward.
Democrats focused on the impact the bills would have, allowing for better mental health interventions to protect both the potential shooter and those he/she/they might target before they commit a tragedy. They pointed out that Colorado laws currently include protections for gun manufacturers and sellers.
Republicans filibustered the proceedings and ran out the procedural clock during debate both Saturday and Sunday. Their focus, as expected was the need to protect the Second Amendment rights of Colorado residents and they presented it as a case of government overreach.
The debate came in the wake of a massive demonstration on the Colorado Capitol steps by Denver teachers and students demonstrating against gun violence. The demonstrations came after two East High school Administrators were seriously wounded last week by a student, who was later found about 50 miles from Denver in Park County; dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
According to Everytown for Gun Safety, firearms are the leading cause of death for young people in the U.S. ages 18 to 20, and the firearm suicide rate among this group has increased by a staggering 61 percent in the last decade.
The Colorado bills passed one day before a 28-year-old gunwoman opened fire this morning at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, killing three children and three adults. It is extremely rare that this shooter was a woman; more than nine out of ten times it is a young man in his teens or twenties.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 33 school mass shootings so far this year (100 mass shootings in total in which fifty-nine children have been killed, and 128 children have been injured. Across the country, there have been 338 teens killed by gun violence, and 817 teens injured.)
“This is the ultimate crime,” said the Nashville Police spokesperson, speaking of today’s tragedy at an elementary school serving Pre-K to sixth grade. Police say that some of the children evacuated the school on their own, not even waiting to be rescued.
As a proud and happy gun owner, I have to ask – why do these 2nd Amendment nuts always seem to forget about the “well regulated” part of their precious militias Second Amendment? It is so weird how they always seem to forget or ignore that part, and such a mystery as to why that might be…could it be that they’re full of crap when it comes to their most fundamental argument in support of the current ridiculous interpretation of the second amendment?
Such a mystery, and in the meantime, Y’all Queda, the Gravy Seals, and Meal Team Six continue to spread their toxic trash everywhere.