You want to buy a firearm at a gun show? You need a background check.
It’s that simple.
But a legislative bill would waive that requirement for people who already have permits to carry concealed weapons.
The reasoning is that they’ve been vetted once in a thorough process, and that ought to be enough.
We disagree. Concealed-carry permits are good for five years, and a lot can happen in five years. A fresh background check should be done whenever someone purchases a gun at a gun show.
Furthermore, a background check isn’t that onerous.
Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, tells us it takes anywhere from a few minutes to several hours for a buyer to go through InstaCheck, CBI’s background check system.
In 2008, CBI conducted more than 200,000 checks via phone and Internet.
It also troubles us that this change in the law would at least partially undo Amendment 22, which was passed in 2000 in the aftermath of the Columbine slayings.
The amendment, which got overwhelming public support, required background checks on all gun sales at gun shows.
The guns used by killers Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris had been purchased by a third person — without a background check — at gun shows.
We find House Bill 1180, sponsored by state Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, and Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, to be completely unnecessary — especially as the 10th anniversary of the Columbine murders approaches.
The measure got a chilly reception last week from law enforcement. They were worried that concealed- carry permits, issued individually by the state’s 64 counties, could be counterfeited.
A fake permit could fool gun sellers into thinking no background check was required — a valid concern since Colorado doesn’t have a standard concealed-carry permit or a centralized database with information on whether a permit is still valid.
But our overarching problem with the measure is that it seems to create a loophole in what we think are reasonable laws to ensure guns don’t fall into the wrong hands.
We hope legislators vote the measure down.
