DENVER—Colorado Republicans are reloading previous attempts to expand gun rights, bringing back legislation that would allow concealed weapons in schools and let businesses use deadly force against intruders.
Republicans say they want to protect Second Amendment rights, but Democrats accuse them of straying from the job-creation platform both parties promised to focus on this year.
A proposal running simultaneously in the House and Senate would allow concealed weapons on school grounds and college campuses if a person has a permit and another bill would let business owners and employees use deadly force against intruders. Both proposals have previously failed, including last year when Senate Democrats rejected the concealed weapons bill.
Another proposal would prevent state officials from restricting the use of firearms during a declared state of emergency. Another bill would eliminate background checks done by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for firearm purchases. Republican Rep. Mark Waller, the legislation’s sponsor, said the state is spending unnecessarily on its background check program because it duplicates checks already done federally.
CBI spokesman Lance Clem said the agency opposes Waller’s bill because the federal checks are not as fast or thorough as the state checks.
Republican Rep. Kevin Priola, a sponsor of the concealed weapon legislation, said the goal is to improve public safety by allowing people to protect themselves.
“There’s always going to be those naysayers on the issue,” he said, adding that when law-abiding citizens have their gun rights upheld “they do the right thing.”
Rep. Chris Holbert, a Republican sponsoring the bill to allow business owners and employees to use deadly force, said the notion that law enforcement can always protect people is “grossly naïve,” particularly when situations develop rapidly.
“Bad guys don’t wait for the police to get there to do bad things,” he said.
Colorado homeowners have legal protections for defending themselves against intruders under a law dubbed “Make My Day.” The legislation Holbert is sponsoring is nicknamed, “Make My Day Better.”
The GOP has a one-vote advantage in the House, so their bills have a good chance of reaching the Senate, where the proposals will be a tougher sell for Democrats who control the chamber.
Sen. John Morse, the Democratic Senate leader, said the Republicans’ gun legislation contradicts what they’ve said about wanting to focus on the economy.
“That’s what they said. This is what they’re doing. So apparently their focus is not jobs. It’s guns,” he said.
Waller said both parties run bills that don’t relate to economic development. But he said the Republicans’ gun rights proposals won’t distract them from economic development.
“Unlike the civil unions bill that’s coming forward that the governor actually mentions in a speech,” he said, referring to Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper’s call to lawmakers last week during the State of the State to pass a proposed civil unions bill.
Democratic Rep. Claire Levy, a member of the budget-writing Joint Budget Committee, said the gun proposals are “just retreads of old ideas that haven’t flown in the past and they won’t fly again this year.”
She criticized the bill dealing with gun rights during a state of emergency, calling it “the proverbial solution in search of a problem.”
“And it seems calculated to me to distract us and the public from the real important debates we actually have to be having this session,” Levy said.
Rep. Amy Stephens, the Republican House leader, said her state of emergency bill addresses an issue other states have looked at in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when there was mass looting.
According to the National Rifle Association, 31 states have similar legislation in place, including Arizona, Nevada, Delaware and Kentucky, said spokeswoman Stephanie Samford. She said most of the states adopted their laws after Katrina.
“This is just a part, I believe, of emergency preparedness,” Stephens said. She said some of Levy’s proposals this year are not related to job creation, including bills to look at discipline in public schools and protections for purchasers of homeowner’s insurance policies.
Stephens said she is representing the interests of her El Paso County district, which includes many Second Amendment supporters. She maintained that the Legislature remains committed on improving the state economy.
“And we also realize that members will have bills that reflect their district and addresses their concerns and this is exactly that,” she said.
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