Colorado’s Democrat-controlled 2023 state legislative session began with a draft bill on an assault weapons ban that was mysteriously leaked out of the chamber, giving various state media outlets and gun-rights groups an opportunity to opine on the proposed legislation, entitled the Mass Shooter Prevention Act.
“The bill would do three main things: define what an assault weapon is and what firearm components qualify as one, prohibit the sale and manufacturing of those weapons in the state and ban rapid-fire trigger activators. Police officers, military members and government officers/ agents in their official capacities would be exempt from the law,” reported KOAA News.
The Mass Shooter Prevention Act is one of many bills Democratic state lawmakers are seeking to introduce this legislative session. The lawmakers sponsoring these bills are looking to find a solution to ending gun violence in the state, using the recent Club Q mass shooting in Colorado Springs as a catalyst.
The draft bill reads, “Assault weapons in civilian hands endanger Colorado’s streets, stores, restaurants, places of worship, music venues, schools, movie theaters, and communities at large. With an assault weapon, even a firearms novice can perpetrate a mass casualty incident.”
There is no word yet on when this controversial and most-likely highly contested bill will be introduced, if ever, especially since the controlling Democratic Party is said to be divided over a statewide assault weapons ban.
In the meantime, Democratic state lawmakers have sharpened their pencils, writing and introducing last Thursday four anti-gun bills that they do agree on:
- An extension to 2019’s “red flag” legislation titled Extreme Risk Protection Order Petitions (SB23-170). The bill’s summary reads: “Under current law a family or household member and a law enforcement officer or agency can petition for an extreme risk protection order. The bill expands the list of who can petition for an extreme risk protection order to include licensed medical care providers, licensed mental health-care providers, licensed educators, and district attorneys.”
- Increasing Minimum Age To Purchase Firearms (SB23-169) would raise the age to purchase or possess a shotgun or rifle to 21, matching the current law for handguns. There would be exceptions for members of the military, police, hunters and people younger than 21 who are under the supervision of someone who is older.
- Gun Violence Victims’ Access To Judicial System (SB23-168) would repeal current law that limits product liability actions against manufacturers of firearms and ammunition and make it easier to sue gun manufacturers and sellers due to unlawful misuse by a third party.
- Waiting Period To Deliver A Firearm (HB23-1219) would impose a three-day waiting period after the initiation of a required background check from when someone purchases a gun to when they can take possession of the weapon.
According to Colorado Politics, SB23-168 is
a work-around to a … federal law, known as Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which has shielded the firearms industry from liability when someone uses a firearm unlawfully.
Sponsor Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Longmont, said the bill will give victims an access to justice. She noted that three states, including Colorado, have the most punitive language that stops gun violence survivors from having their day in court. The bill will create a code of conduct that will hold firearms businesses accountable, she said.
At a press conference announcing the four new gun bills, Assistant House Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat, said, “While this, today, is an expanded step of what we can do to protect lives, this is still part of the journey. You can expect us to continue this work.”
Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat starting his second term, signed several gun-control measures into law during his last term and is on the record for wanting to ban unregistered ghost guns in Colorado. Ghost guns are firearms that are privately assembled and untraceable. They can be put together from “buy build shoot” kits or from other parts, or they can be 3D-printed. Unlike other guns, these weapons don’t have serial numbers. A ghost-gun bill is anticipated to be introduced this session.
Statehouse republicans are facing an uphill battle in fighting the introduced gun bills. Per the Colorado Sun:
House Minority Leader Mike Lynch, R-Wellington, said statehouse Republicans’ opposition would be similar to the overnight debate they forced on a 2022 Democratic measure that enshrined abortion access in state law. The measure was approved in the House and signed into law by the governor despite the delay. “We will push every imaginable amendment you can think of,” Lynch said.
With Democrats in control of the Colorado Legislature and Governor Polis’ support of the proposed legislation, it appears that the “nanny state” leftists may soon be able to celebrate their destruction of the once “wild west” with these new anti-gun laws. Only the off-chance of a successful constitutional challenge can slow or reverse the course of Colorado becoming a Marxist paradise.
