Gun Control Is No Longer Kryptonite in Colorado
I wanted to write this page because so many people have become discouraged or even resigned to nothing ever happening to improve gun safety. For a while it felt like things were getting worse and worse with no hope of anything changing for the better. But that’s not true in Colorado anymore.
Having a trifecta (Democratic Governor, State House, and State Senate) in Colorado has been lovely in a number of ways, but nothing is better than the advances we have made in gun safety. As background, gun control used to be toxic in Colorado. When we passed a law limiting magazine capacity for assault rifles eleven years ago, the backlash was epic. Two Democratic senators, John Morse and Angela Giron, were recalled by the voters of their districts and replaced with Republicans. The general consensus was that attempting any sort of gun control only lost Democratic seats and made things worse. A wikipedia page on the recall:
But things have changed, a lot. Last year, Colorado managed to pass a package of gun bills, including a beefed up red flag law (called ERPO, or Extreme Risk Protection Order), which allows petitioning a judge to have guns removed from someone who poses a threat of violence. Here is a photo of a slide from the League of Women Voters showing what passed in 2023:
Of course there was backlash and litigation filed, but no recalls were instituted and Dems are in no danger of losing the House or the Senate in Colorado.
Today, an article was published in the Denver Post covering 2024 gun bills. Gift Link here:
enewspaper.denverpost.com
According to the Denver Post, new legislation will probably include licensing gun sellers, funding investigations into improperly sold guns, and expanding gun-free zones.