The memory of Columbine lingers and the political guard has changed, but Colorado legislators remain reluctant to tinker with gun laws.
“Since we’ve taken the majority, there hasn’t been a big push of ‘Let’s pass a slew of gun bills,’ ” said state Sen. Sue Windels, an Arvada Democrat. “And some might’ve thought there would be.”
Some Democrats, particularly from rural areas, felt vulnerable on the gun issue in the upcoming election, resulting in a lack of political will to face down the gun lobby, Windels added.
“I think there are a handful of Democrats that know better than to cross that line,” said Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, a gun-rights proponent. “And frankly, that’s what’s kept the anti-gunners at bay.”
Windels carried a gun-owner responsibility bill watered down from previous efforts, but she effectively killed it in committee when she realized it wouldn’t pass — largely, she said, because of National Rifle Association opposition.
The bill would have created a possible misdemeanor charge and fine for gun owners who allow unsupervised access to firearms by minors, who then harm themselves or others. It named no specific storage requirements. Gun dealers would have been required to issue a one-sentence warning about the new law to purchasers.
“When I read hundreds of e-mails that come in from people who receive their information from the NRA, you’d think I was wiping out the Second Amendment entirely,” said Windels, who considered her proposal a modest one.
But opponents didn’t see it that way.
“If some thug comes through the front door, you’ve got to go get it out of a locked-up box before you can defend your family against a meth-crazed criminal,” Brophy said. “Putting people in that position to where they’re choosing between protecting themselves and their family or following the law, that’s unthinkable.”
Republican-sponsored measures have met with no better success.
An attempt to expand the “make my day” law would have given business owners greater leeway in using deadly force; another bill would have opened the door to civil suits against creators of “gun-free zones” by people injured in those areas by criminal acts — if possession of a gun could have prevented the harm.
Both bills were postponed indefinitely.
One gun-related bill did pass with bipartisan support: a ban on “computer-assisted remote hunting” — the practice of shooting wildlife while not physically present.
And so, for the moment, Colorado’s gun laws remain basically unchanged.
Windels said she doesn’t see any far-reaching Colorado legislation on the horizon — unless the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision on the District of Columbia’s handgun ban opens the door for states to revisit existing laws.
That’s one thing both sides of the debate can agree on.
“The (court) decision is going to drive legislation from both the left and the right,” Brophy said. “If it’s more sweeping and encompasses the whole United States — or tailored narrowly to D.C. — expect me to introduce legislation to move the ball toward freedom.”
