By Chris “Badger” Thomas at Breaking First
Back in 2013, Democrats in control of Colorado’s legislature rammed through universal background checks and a ban on ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 15-rounds. When he signed the bills, then-Governor John Hickenlooper promised that the new laws would make Colorado safer.
They haven’t. Violent crime is up by more than 25-percent since the new laws were put on the books, but Democrats in the legislature are doubling down on their anti-gun efforts by proclaiming the state is in a crisis and the only hope is to pass even more laws aimed at legal gun owners. Bearing Arms
Colorado Democrats are introducing two new gun bills Friday afternoon that they say represent the next steps in what will be a years-long attempt at stemming gun violence here.
Rep. Monica Duran, a Wheat Ridge Democrat who’s sponsoring one of the new bills, said, “Each year, whatever it might be, whatever it might look like, we will be bringing (gun) legislation to the point to where it’s just as common as a health care bill, just as common as an environmental bill, where it’s not some big thing, where it’s standard, normal. We’re going to be dealing with this.”
The first of the new bills would require secure storage of firearms, and would in fact penalize people who do not comply. In homes and businesses, under this bill, gun owners would be required to either store their weapons in safe boxes or place locking devices on them. The bill offers some flexibility in terms of what the storage looks like, as long as it’s secure enough to be accessible only with the use of a key, combination code or biometric data such as fingerprints. Failing to comply with these rules would be a class 2 misdemeanor under the proposed bill.
Additionally, the safe storage bill — sponsored in the House by Duran and Rep. Kyle Mullica, D-Northglenn — would require gun dealers to provide locking devices to buyers, and proposes to punish noncompliant gun dealers with fines up to $500.
The second bill is also starting in the House and will be sponsored there by Sullivan and Rep. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Boulder County. The bill seeks to require that anyone who becomes aware that a gun they own has been either lost or stolen to report that loss or theft to law enforcement within 48 hours.
It, too, would create new criminal punishments for violators: Failure to comply would be treated as a petty offense, punishable by a small fine, in the first event. But second and subsequent offenses would be treated as class 3 misdemeanors.
“Just like red flag, these bills sound good on the surface but underneath there could be an extraordinary abuse of gun rights with no increase of public safety,” said Dick Wadhams, a former GOP state party chair.
Chris “Badger” Thomas is a Veteran who served our country as an Army Combat Medic.
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