DENVER—A proposal to allow people with concealed weapons permits to skip background checks each time they buy a gun passed an initial vote in the Senate on Tuesday after four Democrats joined with Republicans to support it.
Federal law requires background checks for gun store purchases but waives those for concealed weapon permit holders in some states.
Since the Columbine shootings, Colorado has also required background checks for people buying guns from private dealers at gun shows.
Sen. Greg Brophy’s bill (House Bill 1180) attempts to exempt permit holders from both types of checks.
Another version of the bill has already been passed by the House. The measure passed its first test in the Senate in an 18-17 vote despite objections from opponents that it violated the spirit of the voter-approved Amendment 22, which required the gun show checks in reaction to the Columbine shootings. Three of the four guns used at Columbine were bought at gun shows.
Meanwhile, Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, said she supported allowing concealed weapon permit holders to skip the extra background checks but wanted the state to keep a database of all permit holders in order to flag anyone who might have their permit suspended. She said the permits are good for five years and the state needs to make sure that anyone who has had a run-in with the law during that time, such as a domestic violence or stalking offense, doesn’t fall through the cracks.
The Senate at first backed requiring a database but later decided to remove that requirement.
Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, said law-abiding citizens with such permits shouldn’t be “dumped into a database” and treated like criminals after going through a rigorous background check.
“These are not handed out like flapjacks at IHOP,” Penry said of the permits.
Newell said having a gun is a right, but having a concealed weapon permit is a privilege. She said keeping track of who has a permit wasn’t any more “Big Brother” than keeping track of who has a valid driver’s license.
“I don’t understand this rampant fear,” she said of keeping a list of permit holders. Newell lives near Columbine High School, but it is not part of her district.
The bill must pass another vote in the Senate before going back to the House. Brophy said the bill is now similar to how it was originally introduced in the House, and he hopes lawmakers there will agree with the Senate version of the bill.
The four Senate Democrats who voted with Republicans to back the bill were Jim Isgar of Hesperus, Gail Schwartz of Snowmass Village, Abel Tapia of Pueblo and Lois Tochtrop of Thornton.
