Senate Republicans on Tuesday took aim at rules for buying guns, but they hit an entirely different target.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-2 to kill a bill to allow gun-show vendors to bypass the required background check if the buyer shows a valid concealed-carry permit.
But Republicans tried to squeeze political points out of the defeat. By mid-afternoon, the Republican press office put out a news release declaring the committee killed Senate Bill 157, which “would have kept concealed-carry permits from illegal aliens.”
Welcome to the state Senate, where the game is never over until it’s over.
For most of the debate during the morning committee meeting, lawmakers and witnesses discussed the merits of making it easier for buyers to purchase firearms at gun shows.
Gun-rights advocates said the process would shorten waiting times for law-abiding citizens who want to buy guns.
Opponents, ranging from Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey to Tom Mauser, whose son died in the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, said that concealed-carry permits are valid for five years – too long to keep track of gun buyers.
But the bill had hardly died before it was resuscitated as an immigration issue.
Even the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ken Kester, R-Las Animas, who read the news release before it was distributed, contradicted the official statement.
“This is not an illegal- aliens bill,” Kester said.
Senate Democrats reacted angrily.
“They are trying to leverage the immigration issue in order to pass bad policy measures, and I resent that,” said Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont.
Even gun-rights advocates were perplexed.
Dudley Brown, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, said it is already against the law for illegal immigrants to own guns.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
