An Assault Weapons Ban Considered for the First Time Is Reduced in Scope to Remain Alive
While other types of gun restrictions have been considered in the Colorado legislature in the past few years, the issue of assault weapons was considered to be “too hot to handle” — until now.
With most of those earlier bills tied up in court cases brought by groups such as the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners Association, a few Democrats are now leading the effort to address the elephants in the public room — assault weapons, and the display of guns insensitive spaces
Colorado State Capitol. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.
HB24-1292 takes aim (pun intended) at the particular firearm of choice that has been used in public mass shootings — assault weapons, most often the AR-15. Sponsors of the proposal to limit where people can carry firearms in Colorado, openly or with concealed carry permits, (Democrats Rep. Tim Hernández and Rep. Elizabeth Epps) are fighting to keep it alive.
“We cannot sit by in the state of Colorado and do nothing as children like me are scared to go into classrooms like I once was,” said Hernández.
The renewed effort to ban them cleared the House Judiciary Committee shortly after midnight a week ago Wednesday. But that didn’t happen until after a brutal 14-hour hearing that didn’t just include the victims of mass shootings (and Colorado has had several) but opponents of the bill labeled it as unconstitutional.
In 2023, a year when Colorado passed significant gun legislation, this same House Judiciary Committee rejected a similar effort to ban assault weapons in numerous places, by one vote. This year, the committee membership had shifted and it passed on a party-line vote 7-3. One Democratic member, Rep. Marc Snyder (Manitou Springs), who voted no in 2023, missed the hearing.
A revised and truncated assault weapons bill will move back to a House Committee work group on Monday, April 1.
Correction: a companion bill Senate Bill 24- 131 was initially introduced to bar Colorado gun owners from carrying firearms in a wide array of sensitive spaces in the state, creating gun-free zones. These include public parks, stadiums, places of worship, libraries, bars, and protest zones. It would apply to both concealed and open carry.
Opponents of 131 said it was far too broad, making it unconstitutional. In subsequent discussions, the bill was amended to only ban firearms at schools (from preschool to college), polling places, the state legislature, and local government buildings. As amended, the bill would allow local governments to opt out, and allow exceptions for security and law enforcement.
Senate Democrats said that narrowing the scope of 131, places it more in line with recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings, and so would be less likely to be challenged. Thanking the sponsors for “significantly narrowing the scope of this bill,” Senator Dylan Roberts (D- Frisco) noted that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, had broadly expanded firearm rights under the Second Amendment. Roberts is a key vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Follow this link to track the progress of HB24-1292 here: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb24-1292
Follow this link to track the progress ofSB24-131 here: https://www.leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb24-131
Editor’s note: This news story about Colorado gun legislation has been corrected to reflect Senate Bill 131, which is scheduled to go to Senate floor work at 9:00 a.m.Tuesday, April 2. We apologize for the omission.
I’m kind of confused. The bill HB24-1292 doesn’t have anything to do with changing where people can carry guns.
Live in Colorado Springs, CO
You are correct Skyler, the final addition to this article on guns containing the second bill — SB24-131 did not save into the press room.It has been corrected and we thank you for pointing this out to us. Our apologies for the confusion this created.
This is odd. I have been over HB24-1292 a few times as I drafted arguments against it. I did not see any section of it mention restricting where firearms could be lawfully carries.
Just a word of warning my democratic treasonists, you will be voted out for your unconstitutional acts of treason. You all took the oath to uphold the constitution of the United States of America and you have failed in your only duty.
Mr. Grant – I don’t think many Democrats are very worried. The real criminals are the GOP members who lie, cheat and steal. Lauren Boebert is a ‘wonderful citizen,’ along with her family members. George Santos was a great guy and so qualified! Here in Chaffee County, Barry Morphew voted his wife’s ballot. In Georgia, the VP of the State GOP has voted illegally multiple times. Mark Meadows voted more than once (and was caught). The leader of Moms for Liberty AND her husband Chair of the Florida GOP were caught up in a three-some, when ooooops — the third lady wasn’t interested in just the hubby. I fervently believe that the many biased far right news agencies would be ecstatic to publish devious deeds by as many Democrats as they find, But . . . there’s just not much news on that front. The STAR witness against Joe Biden admitted he lied, made it all up, none of it was true. Boy, people searched for literally years to find ugly stuff about Obama, but it was pretty much a clean slate. I will say as an absolute NON-Trumper (although raised Republican in Dallas, TX!!), for some reason angry GOPers seemingly MUST call names, label, insult, denigrate, etc. Why is that? There are ways to comment with civility.
The only thing I have against the left is their desire to keep me from defending my family, their need to keep voices different than their own silent, their work to keep election software secret, their desire to prevent questioning their agendas (like, why nor have a scientific debate on causes of global warming-natural warming coming out of the “Little Ice Age, or anthropomorphic CO2), and the forbidden discussions causes of COVID and the efficacy of the vaccines (and might be responsible). These are things we ought to come to some consensus about.
I believe if all the loved ones of children and adults killed in mass shootings, along with the relatives of the thousands of innocent people shot by any kind of gun, were able to band together and vote as a single Voting Bloc, it would be a powerful voice and most likely all the gun laws would pass. It is unfortunate that elected leaders want to get a good NRA rating or applauded at a rally rather than listening to what the majority of Americans now believe. No “good guys with guns” are stopping “bad guys with guns.” If all these guys with guns were really accomplishing anything, there wouldn’t be mass shootings or non-mass shootings of groups of people, right? Oh, yes — one good guy in Arvada, CO did stop the shooter, but then he was mistaken as the bad guy by police and he was killed. There are plenty of guns and assault weapons out in all communities — and in the hands of “good guys,” the way they describe themselves — and the shootings never end. Now, many of the shooters are children themselves, or, they turned 18 the day before. The FBI has statistics on whether good guys with guns stop the bad guys, along with multiple news sources and research agencies across the country, and the resounding response is: “they don’t help.” People should do their own research and get facts. There’s a good report by Time magazine.
The reason that 2A supporters won’t support this bill is that this bill defines my .22 plinker as an assault rifle because it has a detachable magazine and an adjustable stock. The idea that my .22 is an assault rifle is pure idiocy, and it makes the rest of the bill seem pretty stupid. It is no surprise that numerous groups are already lining up to oppose this bill.
If they wanted to ban the switches that allow near full-auto operation, and dedicate money towards enforcing the current laws including background checks and red flag laws, or raising the minimum age for gun buyers, I’d be all for it, but as-is, this bill is exactly the kind of thing that makes 2A people call democrats anti-gun goofs who have no idea what they’re even talking about.