A suspicion of Big Data.

In the House, one of the Capitol’s most progressive members, Rep. Jennifer Bacon, is partnering with one of the building’s most conservative voices, Rep. Ken DeGraaf, on a bill that would block law enforcement from buying Coloradans’ private data.

In the Senate, a Democratic criminal justice reformer, Sen. Judy Amabile, and a Republican newcomer, Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson, are joining to back legislation that would limit law enforcement����ap access to databases of information fed by license plate-reading cameras.

The fundamental tension between security and privacy that has animated American policymakers since the country’s founding is ratcheting up this year, as mass data collection and surveillance technology become ubiquitous.

Zamora Wilson began a committee hearing last week by quoting Benjamin Franklin’s line about how giving up essential liberty for temporary safety makes one deserving of neither. Centuries later, lawmakers say they’re responding to the same sense of unease that’s spread from and the activities of local technology giants. In Colorado, legislators have already moved to limit , and other bills this year deal with data for tenants, homeowners, social media users and immigrants.

Colorado is not alone. Montana passed its own law last year limiting law enforcement’s access to private data purchasing. Other states have increasingly weighed how to shield their residents from the consequences of invisible but ever-growing mountains of information amassed by smartphone apps, traffic cameras and nosy household appliances.

In Denver, Mayor Mike Johnston last week announced an imminent end to the city’s controversial relationship with Flock Safety, which has run its license plate cameras.

“Right now, law enforcement has body cameras, cameras on their cars, pole cameras, speeding cameras, red light, license-plate readers, facial recognition, drones — and then we have (artificial intelligence) coming on board, which is a big unknown,” said Zamora Wilson, who lives at the Air Force Academy. “And a lot of my constituents are concerned that their privacy is being invaded, and we’re becoming a surveillance state, like China.”

Or, as Bacon quipped during a committee hearing Wednesday for her bill with DeGraaf: “When this crazy liberal from Denver and this libertarian from El Paso County sit in front of you, that means there is a legitimate community concern.”

Besides the license plate cameras, Zamora Wilson is sponsoring bills that would regulate traffic cameras, facial recognition software and drones.

Not all of the privacy-centered bills are focused on law enforcement, and not all are bipartisan. Democrats are also running legislation aimed at preventing companies from using mass data collection to customize prices for online shoppers and individualize wages for gig workers like Uber drivers. (Though that bill may have some crossover appeal, too: DeGraaf said he was “concerned” about the practice.)

But even bipartisan agreement does not necessarily translate to clear paths through the legislature.

Law enforcement is flatly opposed to the bills that would limit agencies’ access to data. During committee testimony last week, in between panelists who warned about mass data collection, police chiefs and detectives described the shootings, murders and assaults they’d solved with license plate readers and location data.

Requiring them to obtain warrants before they could access that data, they warned, would hinder their ability to solve those crimes in the future.

“The legislation, I think, is trying to be responsive to what (lawmakers are) hearing from some people,” said Todd Reeves, a deputy police chief speaking on behalf of the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police. “Unfortunately, I don’t think they know exactly how we use this data and how we use this information and how cases are put together.”

Law enforcement opposition can be a serious hurdle in the Capitol. Uniforms filling committee rooms and legislative lobbies — and officers describing violent crimes and the technology needed to solve them — can override higher-level discussions about the implications of that technology.

Only one of the three measures up for an initial vote last week cleared its first hurdle. Lawmakers delayed votes on the other two so that they could work to shore up support and assuage concerns from police and prosecutors.

Police surveillance: ‘People are concerned’

A week ago, Chrisanna Elser described to lawmakers the “dystopian task” of proving her innocence against license plate readers.

The technology had captured her truck in an area where a package had been reported stolen, and a : “You can’t get a breath of fresh air in our valley or town without us knowing.”

Elser eventually gathered her own evidence to prove she wasn’t the package thief, according to 9News, which previously covered the incident.

“I am here to testify that this technology is being sold as a shield to protect communities,” Elser told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 23, as they debated Zamora Wilson and Amabile’s bill. “But in practice, it is a digital dragnet that turns our constitutional rights upside down.”

would generally prohibit law enforcement or government agencies from accessing databases gathered by license plate readers without a warrant. It would waive the requirement in certain situations, such as emergencies or within a short time window after specific data was gathered. The bill would also limit how long that data could be stored, though Zamora Wilson and Amabile eased that provision last week.

Two days later, Bacon and DeGraaf settled in for the first committee hearing on . Their bill would generally prevent local law enforcement from buying Coloradans’ personal data from private companies — such as location information that can be accurate to within a few inches, said Sebastian Zimmeck, a computer science professor at Wesleyan University who researches data privacy.

Bacon, DeGraaf and their supporters argue their proposal is in keeping with the Fourth Amendment, which generally requires law enforcement get a warrant before obtaining a person’s private information. Montana passed a last year.

While law enforcement officials argued that the bills would hamper their ability to do their jobs, supporters of the proposals said that was the point: ensuring there are checks on the government’s access to Coloradans’ information.

The nation’s founders wrote that citizens had a right to be secure in their papers. DeGraaf said the modern equivalent was security in data. Like Zamora Wilson, he said the specter of China’s omnipresent surveillance state loomed large.

“What this bill is about is, what are the expectations that we have — as people, as neighbors, as constituents — about what we do and do not want people to have access to,” Bacon said. “And in this case, just for this bill, how can that information be used against me in a court of law? Or rather, if we wanted the government to know it, shouldn’t we have given it to them?”

Each of the bills received hours of seesawing testimony from police and civil liberties groups, district attorneys and libertarians.

Unique coalitions formed: One panel of supporters for HB-1037 included a prominent gun-rights group, a leading immigration advocacy organization, a religious alliance and a Boulder resident who regularly testifies against Democratic proposals.

All shared similar concerns about the government buying their information.

Zamora Wilson was adamant about her support for law enforcement. She called state efforts to regulate the usage of data a “delicate dance” of protecting privacy and civil liberties, while giving law enforcement the tools to solve crimes quickly and efficiently.

“It’s here. It’s not just coming down the pipe — it’s here,” Zamora Wilson said. “And people are concerned. And so we need to have the discussion. What does this look like? What do the guardrails look like? Where’s the give and take?”

‘Not about bypassing warrants,’ sergeant says

Prosecutors and police officials argued that the give-and-take would mean compromising their ability to quickly respond to and solve crimes.

License plate readers, location data — that information, they say, helps police turn fragments of information into search warrants.

“This is not about bypassing warrants. It����ap about preserving the investigative path that allows us to identify suspects before seeking judicial authorization,” Sgt. Dominic Marziano of the Aurora Police Department told lawmakers during the debate over Bacon and DeGraaf’s bill. “Privacy and technology should advance together, but we must avoid recreating barriers that past tragedies taught us to remove.”

For every American Civil Liberties Union official arguing that obtaining private information about Americans shouldn’t be quick or easy, an officer detailed a shooting solved by quick access to location data.

Elser, who fought the package theft accusation, was caught in an impersonal — and inaccurate — technology dragnet. Shortly after she described it, Aurora resident Ramon Farfan told lawmakers that his brother’s murder was solved with the help of license plate reader technology.

Prosecutors debated lawmakers on the limits of the Fourth Amendment. While advocates and lawmakers point to the rapidly changing and expanding technology as a reason to act now, Reeves, from the police chiefs association, said the concept wasn’t new.

Automated license plate readers, for example, have been in use for more than 20 years in Colorado, he said in an interview. Body-worn cameras used by police officers often capture people’s most intimate and vulnerable moments, including on private property.

And other more invasive technologies, like infrared cameras, have been discarded voluntarily by chiefs concerned about the invasion of privacy, he said — proof that law enforcement already weighs community wants and expectations.

Advocates are pushing a “false narrative of state surveillance,” Reeves said. The technology being targeted by Colorado lawmakers focuses on public areas not covered by the Fourth Amendment. Plus, he said, the system’s actual footprint is too scant to constitute mass surveillance, he said.

These systems aren’t used for general surveillance and couldn’t be, Reeves said. Instead, they are entry points for deeper investigations, including how law enforcement can target warrants.

He also worries the proposed bills would be too rigid and too narrowly focused, and they would have the effect of hamstringing law enforcement as new technologies emerge. Even if the bills become law, he noted, the data about people will still be out there.

Instead, Reeves said he’d like the conversation to focus on internal policies used by law enforcement agencies and how to strike the balance between public safety and privacy that way, versus passing rigid legislation.

“The concepts are flawed from the beginning,” Reeves said. “Do I think we could work together and come up with palatable, acceptable legislation that’s not so restrictive and doesn’t overprovide protections of the Fourth Amendment that are clearly established? Yes. But I think that’s going to take an incredible amount of dialogue and an incredible amount of patience, because we both need to understand each others’ responsibilities.”

If the bills build upon decades of debates over privacy and security, their hearings last week showed how unsettled that balance remains.

Only SB-70, the license plate reader bill, passed its committee vote. After hours of testimony, Bacon and DeGraaf delayed HB-1037’s first vote amid skepticism over the data-purchasing bill from some Democrats and the House Judiciary Committee’s four Republicans (one of whom was a late substitute).

Zamora Wilson similarly paused the vote on her broader bill that’s aimed at facial recognition and traffic cameras, as she sought to shore up support.

“I think there’s this view that we are somehow trying to harm law enforcement and restrict their ability to do their jobs and protect people,” Anaya Robinson of the ACLU of Colorado said in an interview. “In reality, none of the bills are about that. The bills are about protecting people and protecting privacy, which we should all hold very dear.”

Tournament info: Schedule, returning champions, undefeated wrestlers and marquee matchups | Day 1 | Day 2

Day 3 headlines

• Keeler: Why Pomona’s Colorado state wrestling dynasty is ‘not going anywhere’
• In Colorado state wrestling tournament heavyweight clash, Resurrection Christian star caps perfect season
• Broomfield’s Shayla Martinez remains perfect as she repeats as state wrestling champ
• Meet the two men who’ve seen more than a century’s worth of Colorado state wrestling tournaments
• Colorado youth wrestling is growing, and it����ap showing at 2026 state tournament

Updates

8:20 p.m.: A couple more back-to-back state champions in the 4A girls brackets as Alamosa’s Samantha Maestas pins Las Animas’ Audali Martinez at 1:31 in the 120-pound final, while Canon City’s Kate Doughty earns an 8-0 decision over Arvada’s Samaya Carreon in the 135-pound final. — Nate Peterson

7:28: p.m. Make it back-to-back state titles for Regis Jesuit’s Remington Zimmerer in the 5A 120-pound division after she defeated Widefield’s Amaya Hinojosa, 7-0. — Nate Peterson

7:10 p.m.: Grandview’s JR Ortega earned his second straight state title in the 5A 126-pound division after pinning Castle View’s Jacob Ness in 3:07 minutes. Ortega was nearly perfect this season. He entered this year’s state tournament having lost only one match. — Nate Peterson 

6:27 p.m.: While the Pomona boys are rolling toward an eighth state team title, there’s also been dominance on the women’s side from the Panthers. Case in point: Junior Justice Gutierrez, who rolled to her third straight state title after completing a perfect season with a major decision over Sand Creek’s Peggy Dean. Dean, the No. 2 seed, was 38-0 entering the tournament. Gutierrez hasn’t lost a match since her freshman year and will have a chance next year to become a rare four-time state champion, something her teammate, Pomona senior Timberly Martinez, is aiming for Saturday night. Martinez is the only wrestler at Ball Arena this weekend with an opportunity to win state titles in all four years, but standing in her way is Brighton’s Matilda Hruby. Hruby, a perfect 25-0 this season after beating Martinez twice, is aiming for her third state title. — Nate Peterson

6:23 p.m.: Bennett����ap Emma Faczak goes back to back at 105 pounds in 4A after pinning Coal Ridge’s Lexi Thurmon in just 31 seconds. — Nate Peterson

6:05 p.m.: Make it two state titles in a row for Alamosa’s Jeremiah Delacerda, who defeated Skyview’s Andrew Pedregon 7-0 in the 3A 106-pound boys final. — Nate Peterson

5:28: Resurrection Christian heavyweight Samuel Stockton completes a perfect season in 3A to win his second straight state tile after pinning Mullen’s Champion Dyes. Dyes had just four losses on the season. — Nate Peterson 

4:57 p.m. Huge result in the boys 2A final at 215 pounds between two unbeaten wrestlers: Anthony Estrada of Burlington and Carter Stromer of Buena Vista. In a closely contested match, Estrada finally got the upper hand and pinned Stromer at 2 minutes, 30 seconds, as a large contingent of family and friends from Burlington erupted. — Nate Peterson

4:30 p.m.: It’s finals time in Denver. The parade of champions is wrapping up and state champions are ready to be crowned. The format for Championship Saturday has changed this year. Whereas normally the championship round starts at the lowest weight classes and works its way up to the heavyweights, this year, finals matches are starting at a randomly drawn weight class. So Saturday’s title round will start with the 170-pound girls and the 190-pound boys. — Kyle Newman 

8:55 a.m.: The consolation rounds are up first at Ball Arena, with those matches going through 3 p.m. until the arena is cleared out for the Parade of Champions at 4 p.m. Medals will be won today, and champions crowned, and we’ll be here to cover it all.

Saturday’s championship matchups

Class 5A boys

106 pounds: Lincoln Valdez (Pomona) def. Onofre Gonzales (Ponderosa), MD 10-1

113: Tony Tufano (Brighton) def. Jax Quintana (Adams City), MD 16-4

120: Logan Dellow (Pomona) def. Kel Unrein (Fruita Monument), Dec 7-0

126: JR Ortega (Grandview) def. Jacob Ness (Castle View), Fall 3:07

132: Cooper Mathews (Cherokee Trail) def. Kyle Menuez (Grandview), MD 13-4

138: Angel Serrano (Pomona) def. Jaylen Burge (Ponderosa), Dec 10-5

144: Michael Lopez (Ponderosa) def. Ethyn BravoPacker (Brighton), Dec 5-0

150: Derek Barrows (Pomona) def. Jack Simpson (Ponderosa), Fall 3:16

157: Donovan Symalla (Pomona) def. Gavin Weichelt (Pine Creek), Dec 1-0

165: Emmitt Munson (Pomona) def. Gunner Lopez (Grandview), Dec 5-2

175: Kalob Ybarra (Pomona) def. Brogan Trollope (Pine Creek), MD 14-1

190: Emmerson Claeys (Pomona) def. Bryce Hayman (Loveland), TF 18-0

215: Maddux Najera (Pomona) def. Eli Stevens (Northglenn), Dec 10-3

285: Alexander Rose (Legend) def. Leland Day (Grandview), Fall 7:25

Class 4A boys

106 pounds: Simon Carter (Severance) def. Elijah Algien (Pueblo South), MD 13-1

113: Daniel Romero def. Urijah Duran (Pueblo East), Fall 2:55

120: Drake VomBaur def. Dylan Saba (Air Academy), Dec 7-1

126: Teagan Young (Palisade) def. Noah Meza (Falcon), Dec 4-3

132: Malakii Martin (Roosevelt) def. Jaxon Felker (Severance), MD 14-2

138: Kash Long (Roosevelt) def. Rayce Schriever (Sand Creek), Fall 5:17

144: Ty Eversman (Thompson Valley) def. Chris LaLonde (Roosevelt), Dec 9-8

150: Kadin Mulford (Palisade) def. Noah Garcia-Salazar (Greeley Central), MD 11-3

157: David Burchett Jr. (Air Academy) def. Justus Freeman (Pueblo East), SV 4-1

165: Wyatt Malara (Thompson Valley) def. Thomas Martell (Air Academy), Fall 2:49

175: Robert Kendall (Windsor) def. Champ Watson (Falcon) vs. Ricky Aulava (Widefield), Fall 1:44

190: Elias Koonce (Canon City) def. Elijah Contreras (Pueblo East), Dec 14-11

215: Michael Garcia (Roosevelt) def. Michael McCullough (Pueblo East), TF 15-0

285: Ben Reish (Canon City) def. Cooper Hern (Eagle Valley), Dec 5-0

Class 3A boys

106 pounds: Jeremiah Delacerda (Alamosa) def. Andrew Pedregon (Skyview), Dec 7-0

113: Joseph Gamez (La Junta) def. Josiah Orozco (Fort Lupton), Dec 5-3

120: Blake Hawkins (Eaton) def. Isaiah Rodriguez (Fort Lupton), Dec 7-0

126: Jordan Romero (Abraham Lincoln) def. Jordan Gamez (La Junta), Dec 4-1

132: Parker Wickam (Eaton) def. Caycen Scholz (Bennett), Dec 8-2

138: Uriah Martinez (Alamosa) def. Josiah Gonzales (Fort Lupton), Dec. 7-5

144: Zach Benson (Gunnison) def. Logan Vannest (Platte Valley), Fall 1:04

150: Isaiah Gallegos (Jefferson) def. Santos Nunez (La Junta), MD 13-1

157: Samuel Johnson (Salida) def. Colton Lucero (Pagosa Springs), Dec 7-4

165: Paxton Pettinger (Eaton) def. Austin Ley (Brush), Dec 2-1

175: Isaak Chavez (Mullen) def. Rocky Hoffschneider (Valley), MD 8-0

190: Ritchie Bruno (Brush) def. Estevan Loya (Mullen), Dec 7-2

215: Donavon Farrell (Berthoud) def. Andrew Richins (The Classical Academy), Fall 3:25

285: Samuel Stockton (Resurrection Christian) def. Champion Dyes (Mullen), Fall 4:42

Class 2A boys

106 pounds: Mathieu Dean (Monte Vista) def. Emilio Vallejos (Rocky Ford), Dec 8-5

113: Derreck Buford (Crowley County) def. Aven Bourriague (Ignacio), Dec 7-1

120: Cooper Edson (Sedgwick County/Fleming) def. Cash Martinez (Cedaredge), Dec 9-8

126: Micah Horowitz (Peyton) def. Orion Martinez (Las Animas), Dec 4-1

132: Carter Jensen (Highland) def. Liam Deboer (Dayspring Christian Academy), MD 16-3

138: Forrest Craddock (Colorado Springs Christian) def. Taylor Torres (Walsenburg), Dec 10-5

144: Tyler Varra (Highland) def. Kaleb Grauer (Akron), TF 16-0

150: Elijah Martin (Dayspring Christian Academy) def. Austin Collins (Wray), Fall 1:00

157: Braeden Flores (North Fork) def. Owen Harris (Sedgwick County/Fleming), MF

165: Lincoln Dekay (Ignacio) def. Jason Saucedo (Burlington), TF 17-0

175: Joseph Noce (Dayspring Christian Academy) def. Levi Gibson (Crowley County), Dec. 8-5

190: Wyatt Chase (Highland) def. Daden Beauprez (Yuma), Fall 1:30

215: Anthony Estrada (Burlington) def. Carter Stromer (Buena Vista), Fall 2:30

285: Omar Ocana (Rocky Ford) def. Spoke Carr Limon), Fall 5:09

Class 5A girls

100 pounds: Justice Gutierrez (Pomona) def. Peggy Dean (Sand Creek), MD 10-0

105: Timmery Condit (Pomona) def. Renee Hudson (Prairie View), Dec 12-5

110: Allison McDaniel (Falcon) def. Saydee Lussenhop (Loveland), Dec 6-2

115: Jaydin Cuevas (Prairie View) def. Morgan McDonald (Mead), Fall 1:35

120: Remington Zimmerer (Regis Jesuit) def. Amaya Hinojosa (Widefield), Dec 7-0

125: Amelia Bacon (Vista Peak) def. Bella Arellano-Gandy (Coronado), Dec 7-3

130: Zaret Silva Lopez (Castle View) def. Alora Martinez (Pomona), Dec 2-0

135: Makena Heston (Columbine) def. Lillian Fenberg (Durango), Dec. 1-01

140: Lizzie Padilla (Arapahoe) def. Akadia Puga (Thornton), MD 12-3

145: Ryen Hickey (Chatfield) def. Lindsey Rusin (Douglas County), Fall 0:25

155: Matilda Hruby (Brighton) def. Timberly Martinez (Pomona), Dec. 9-3

170: Shylee Tuzon (Central-GJ) def. Emma Bielak (Mountain Vista), Fall 2:38

190: Shayla Martinez (Broomfield) def. Kaida Hull (Thornton), Fall 1:21

235: Khloe Yizar (Vista Peak) def. Pulotu Savea (Central-GJ), Fall 4:38

Class 4A girls

100 pounds: Acelyn Duran (Pueblo Central) def. Yliani Garcia (La Junta), MD 13-0

105: Emma Faczak (Bennett) def. Lexi Thurmon (Coal Ridge), Fall 0:31

110: Piper Montoya (Canon City) def. Madison McElmeel (Severance), TF 16-0

115: Gionna Duran (Pueblo Central) def. Isabella Ortiz (La Junta), MD 18-7

120: Samantha Maestas (Alamosa) def. Audali Martinez (Las Animas), Fall 1:31

125: Alyssa Ornelas (Fort Lupton) def. Breezy Johnston (Holy Family), TF 17-1

130: Eila Schultz (Severance) def. Brooklyn Glende (Sedgwick County/Fleming), Dec 8-1

135: Kate Doughty (Canon City) def. Samaya Carreon (Arvada), Dec 8-0

140: Vivienne Gitke (Strasburg) def. Margaret Burrier (Evergreen), Fall 1:33

145: Roxie Uhrig (Gunnison) def. Bree Tyler (Las Animas), Fall 1:21

155: Madilyn Gitke (Strasburg) def. Romie Uhrig (Gunnison), Dec. 3-0

170: Julianna Darmafall (Liberty Common) def. Ruth LeBlanc (Meeker), Dec 10-4

190: Valancia Bentrott (Evergreen) defs. Laykyn Baxstrom (Pagosa Springs), Fall 4:24

235: Toryn Neugebauer (Holly) def. Zahara Thompson (Arvada), Dec 4-0

________________________________________________________________________________

For results from the preliminary rounds on Days 1 and 2 of the tournament, find the official CHSAA brackets for the  and girls tournaments. On the final two days of the tournament, we’ll have live championship bracket results on this page.

Hours after the Sept. 10 shooting, Arvada police officers started investigating hundreds of Safe2Tell reports about a photo of a rifle and ammunition with the words “Be ready rv” that was sent to multiple students on Snapchat.

Investigators contacted the student suspected of the post, who is a juvenile, that night but did not have evidence to pursue criminal charges,

Police linked the photo to a French social media post from 2024 and determined the threat was not credible, although 1,100 students did not attend school the next day.

Officers continued investigating the student suspected of making the post and found digital links to the incident, including internet searches for “snap with gun be ready,” “survivors of columbine,” “worst school shooting in america” and the names of the Columbine High School shooters.

Here are 5 things parents can do to protect their children online

The student����ap search history also contained questions about what would happen if a minor made a school shooting threat, if it was a federal offense and if there was a way a police officer could come to their house and talk to them.

The student was arrested Tuesday and charged with interference with staff, faculty or students of education institutions, a misdemeanor.

“No one in the country has been through what we’ve been through,” the coach told his Evergreen High School football team. “Everybody has your back. Everybody.”

His Cougars leaned closer. It was 15 minutes to 7 p.m. About a half-hour earlier, they warmed up at Severance High School’s football stadium under low clouds, shaking off three weeks of rust and two weeks of angst while mosquitoes nipped at their calves.

was going over film with his quarterbacks inside Evergreen High on Sept. 10 when he heard shots down the hall. A gunman had opened fire inside the building, wounding two students before taking his own life.

Friday night was the Cougars’ first game back. Their coach took a deep breath. A smile came and went. Every few seconds, the call sheet attached to his waist would rattle as he turned, breaking the silence.

“The last two weeks,” Van Praag said, “have been unlike any team that’s been here before.”

He reminded them that they were together. That they were safe. That they were loved. He raised both arms out wide and pointed to the 28 faces staring back at him, battered but unbowed.

“I believe,” Van Praag said softly. The call sheet rattled again. “I believe in you.”

‘It felt like an eternity’

The voices we hear at our darkest moments, hands extended from hope, are the ones that stay with us forever.

Matt’s son Declan is a freshman wide receiver and defensive back on the Cougars roster. On Sept. 10, just as the school went into lockdown, the teen was supposed to be watching film next door. But dad had no idea if his son was in the room, or heaven forbid, somewhere else.

Van Praag texted assistant coach Chris Post.

Is Declan OK?

Post messaged back.

Yes, he’s OK. Everything’s all right,

“This coaching staff, they’re just amazing human beings,” Matt recalled later. “We have people from all walks of life. We don’t have any coaches in the building.

“And so for us to have been there and for my son to be with Coach Post, I felt that he was going to be OK. And that (Post) was going to do whatever he could to protect his kid, just like I was going to do whatever I could to protect the kids that were in my room.”

Declan told me he doesn’t remember much. He saw nothing. He heard plenty.

“We had to barricade the door,” Declan said, “and then got to the corner and just waited for the authorities to show up.”

“They said it was not too long of a time,” Declan said, “but it felt like an eternity in there.”

The only thing crueler than life sometimes is its ironies. One of the elder Van Praag’s friends and confidants is a football coach in Florida by the name of George LePorte. LePorte taught chemistry at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018 when a shooter arrived on campus and killed 17 people.

“You really need to connect with each individual player,” LePorte told Van Praag recently. “Because everyone is going to be at a different place.”

Longtime Columbine football coach Andy Lowry reached out. So did the Columbine booster club. Severance offered signs, memorials and a moment of silence. Evergreen officials respectfully declined. The most important thing, they said, was getting normalcy again.

Both schools agreed on a small, personal gesture — a blue, heart-shaped sticker on the back of the Silver Knights’ helmets that featured the Cougars’ logo, the Severance logo, and three words: UKnighted For Evergreen.

“In our program, we are so lucky,” Van Praag said. “Our motto every year is THL — Trust, Honor and Love.

“We are going to love these kids. And once we get to that love piece, they trust us implicitly. And so they will come to us and talk to us (to say), ‘Coach, I’m really struggling.’ As a coach, that’s the greatest compliment you can get. If we have a 15-, 16-year-old kid saying, ‘I love you,’ that’s a big deal for us. We want to get them to that place. And our team is there.”

‘Getting back to football has helped’

The football side is still, understandably, coming along. Slowly.

In their opening offensive series at Severance, the Cougars punted after three plays. Then again, after another three.

The offense sputtered. The defense wore down. The rust was real. Assistant coach Ryan Jensen, the Fort Morgan native and a Super Bowl champ with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, mislaid his hat before the game and had to borrow someone else’s.

Severance used a second-quarter surge to take a 22-0 lead into halftime. The Silver Knights eventually pounded out a 32-0 win before a giddy, glittering homecoming crowd.

Van Praag wouldn’t make excuses after the game. So we will. Over the previous fortnight, the Cougars have practiced at four different sites — the Broncos’ indoor complex, Chatfield High, a local junior high, and their own facility.

Every day was a scramble drill. Severance prep this past week involved two different fields. Kids were padding up at home, padding up in restrooms, dressing and changing wherever they could.

“We prepared well, we liked our plan, but the last two weeks — it’s a struggle,” Van Praag told me. “You’re not practicing on your own home field. And I think we’re going to scrap this and move on quickly. But our kids are resilient; they’ve been great. I have no problem with the effort or what they did. These kids have been through a lot.”

“I mean, for us — we don’t need to watch this film. We know this wasn’t us. This is a wash. We move on. We’re two games from conference play. We have a game next week, and then we’re into conference play. That’s what we have to get ready for.”

They lost a game. They got their normal back. On a long journey home, the first step is often the heaviest.

“I think as much as it can, it felt like a normal football game,” Declan said. “Severance came out and played as hard as they could, which was nice. I’m glad they didn’t show anything different to us. I think we played our hardest, and it was good to get out there.”

How are you doing?

“Getting back to football has helped a lot,” Declan said. “Being able to just feel normal with everything, seeing my teammates, being able to even practice at our own fields, getting back to normal, it’s felt really good.”

As Declan spoke, a player, eye black smudged, hair sopping, stopped and hugged his father tightly. THL.

The coach never stopped believing. And everybody still had their backs. Everybody.

“We love this group,” Van Praag said. The call sheet was gone. The smile returned. “We’ll be back on our field next week. We’ll be back in our building. The routine will be back to normal. That’s the thing that’s most important. And we’ll be OK.”

Social media accounts for Desmond Holly suggest to experts that he was involved in nihilistic violent extremist networks — which the as people who seek to “destroy civilized society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, which often include minors.”

An account on TikTok linked to Desmond showed several hallmarks of that brand of extremism, said Matt Kriner, executive director of the nonprofit .

Desmond also held an account and commented on a website called WatchPeopleDie, which features videos of killings, sexual violence and animal cruelty, according to the .

“WatchPeopleDie and other online spaces are the nihilistic network,” said Oren Segal, the ADL’s senior vice president of counter extremism and intelligence. “Those who are spending their time posting images of murders and beheadings and rapes and other horrible things, and also expressing extremist and hateful views, and glorifying past shooters. That makes up this nihilistic network.”

The network originated as an effort to accelerate the collapse of modern society by exacerbating social tensions and dividing society through violence, and has roots in white supremacy and fascism, Kriner said. But the groups have continually evolved, and most nihilistic violent extremists today don’t share a single strong ideology, instead relying on a hodgepodge of different motivations, he said.

“They just hate everyone,” he said. “They don’t really have a goal. The purpose is pain.”

Segal noted that three U.S. mass shooters in the last nine months were active on WatchPeopleDie before their attacks.

“There is a through line between them,” he said. “There is something connecting them, and it is these horrible online spaces. So even though the tragedy is unique every single time, we can point to a common thread. And we need to ask ourselves, ‘How do we stop it?'”

Violent extremist network

Both of the students that Desmond shot at the Jefferson County school remained in critical condition Friday. Desmond’s parents and other relatives have not returned requests for comment since his death.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that Desmond was radicalized, but has not provided any additional details on that radicalization or its impact on Wednesday’s attack. Officials have said they were still considering Desmond’s motive.

‘Radicalized’ Evergreen High School shooter appeared to hold antisemitic, violent views in online accounts

It's unlikely that white supremacy was the sole motivation for the shooting at Evergreen High School, Kriner said, adding it is more likely that Desmond was interested in mass shootings, then sought out the extremist spaces online, where he was given the "cultural script" and a guide on how to take action.

It's a typical progression into violent extremism, Kriner said.

"They build relationships with people in that space, find deeper content that is a little bit more egregious, a little bit more radical — tactics and glorification of past shooters — and it starts to merge into becoming a copycat of those persons as a means of having a strong identity with the new online community they found," Kriner said.

Desmond's specific motivation will be difficult to know even with his online activities, Segal said.

"Here is someone who dabbled with neo-Nazi views, antisemitism, glorified past shooters, echoed and posed similarly to them — but what is it about all that that led this person to do this attack? I do not know," he said. "It is the combination and the blurring of the lines between violent fantasies and hate that is at the heart of this nihilistic network."

Columbine 'is the dominant influence'

Desmond's focus on the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School, also in Jefferson County, is a central feature of these online extremist ecosystems, Kriner said.

Young people across the world obsess with the Columbine attack, reliving it and roleplaying it, he said, aided by extensive public material and media coverage about the killers and their motivations.

"It is the dominant influence within the entirety of that ecosystem online," he said.

Would-be attackers have even been known to use artificial intelligence chatbots to re-create the personas of the Columbine attackers — with the AI chatbot pulling from the reams of public information on the attack, including the shooters' writings — allowing the creator to "almost realistically" communicate with them, he added.

Photos on a now-deleted TikTok account linked to Desmond appeared to show him creating and then wearing a T-shirt similar to one worn by one of the Columbine shooters, including a post he made on the day of the attack.

In an earlier post showing that T-shirt, he included a photo of the 15-year-old who killed two people and injured six more at a Wisconsin school in December — and mimicked that attacker's pose in his photo.

That is a final warning sign ahead of an attack, Kriner said.

"The replication of an individual who has previously carried out a shooting like that is almost assuredly a sign that the person had made up their mind to do it," Kriner said.

On TikTok, Desmond's profile picture featured a stylized image of the 22-year-old man who killed six people in California in May 2014 — which shows Desmond was heavily online in an "alt-right," white nationalist space, Kriner said.

In addition to antisemitic and white supremacist references, the account also referred to "141," the name of a loosely connected network of people online — largely centered on the messaging app Telegram — that grooms young people both sexually and toward acts of violence, Kriner said.

Desmond collected tactical gear and talked online about getting a GoPro camera so he could record his attack, according to the Anti-Defamation League's review of his accounts.

"You got close to the full setup now man time to make a move," another user commented on TikTok, according to a screenshot provided by the ADL.

How do you stop this?

Although there are consistent warning signs of radicalization in these online spaces, it can be difficult for authorities to take action on those warning signs.

"Because so much of this falls under the First Amendment, and there is no proof they actively made offline credible actions... they are not obligated to do much with that," Kriner said, adding that many platforms will take down the content but stop there.

He added that the Trump administration has cut funding for research and monitoring of extremist networks and has pressured social media platforms to take a more hands-off approach.

William Braniff, executive director of the at American University, said effective prevention needs to start years before a teenager is exposed to online extremism.

"Prevention is like diet and exercise," he said. "You don’t want to wait until you have an acute health issue."

Digital literacy education should start in grade school, he said, with age-appropriate courses designed to help children as young as kindergarten understand how to navigate the online world — just as children are taught not to take candy from strangers, he said.

Teenagers and children can also build up resistance to online extremism with limited and controlled exposure through a method called Braniff said.

"The idea is that if you give individuals a microdose of a harmful, manipulative technique they might come across online, and then you expose that manipulation to the viewer, explain it to them and give them a little bit of an explanation on why it is a manipulation and what the truth is of the situation — it can be a 40-second video — but individuals develop emotional antibodies to being manipulated," he said. "So once you see that pre-bunking video, when you see similar content online, those emotional antibodies of anger and disgust kick in, and you reject the content."

People who have gone through such pre-bunking are also significantly more likely to challenge the manipulative content, he added, which can help prevent their friends and other users from falling prey to it.

Another key to prevention is to build a child's "protective factors," Braniff said, including having trusted relationships with adults, a strong sense of self and social wellbeing.

Schools and other organizations can create early-response, non-punitive teams staffed with social workers, mental health professionals, coaches and faith leaders to respond to early indications that a child might be considering violence, he added.

He noted that Colorado is a leader in the nation for prevention systems. No system will stop every act of violence, but prevention is still worth investing in, he said.

"There is strong evidence it can work," he said. "...No one says, 'A building burned down, so we should stop funding the fire department.'"

Then my phone lit up again. I received additional horrifying news: there was, at that very moment, an active shooter at Evergreen High School.

I was stunned sitting on the couch thinking about the parents receiving word that there was an active shooter and that they were warned not to go to the school for their safety. The helplessness and not knowing if they’d ever see their kids again. My heart breaks for the students who continue to fight for their lives in the hospital, the parents who are at their bedsides not knowing if they will ever come home, and for the kids and educators who will carry the trauma of this day forever.

Just like every parent reading the headline, I felt the shock and terror and thought: what if that was my kid? What if that was his school? I’m outraged that this is the result of failed policy and inaction.

‘Radicalized’ Evergreen High School shooter appeared to hold antisemitic, violent views in online accounts

I grew up here. I attended high school in Jefferson County, not too far from Columbine. I still remember the shock I felt as a junior in high school when the unimaginable happened. Back then, it shocked the nation. But now it����ap become all too common. Mass shootings have become an ugly stain on our state. My heart breaks that Evergreen now joins the long line of Colorado communities forever changed by a mass shooting.

While Colorado has a history of making national headlines for gun violence, we’re certainly not unique. Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in this country. Not cars. Not cancer. But gun violence. It����ap worth repeating – guns are the number one killer of our kids. And the most outrageous part about all of this is that it's completely preventable. How many lives do we need to lose before we are willing to say enough?

Just weeks ago, we saw kids in Minnesota killed at school. And earlier this summer, lawmakers murdered outside their homes. Now a conservative activist. Now once again, high school students in Evergreen. Who’s going to be next? It feels like we’ve reached a breaking point. This is untenable.

We are living through a dark moment in our country’s history – one that will be remembered for whether we confronted the radicalization and violence tearing at our communities or allowed it to break us apart. As a society, we are being forced to answer a fundamental question: is this who we want to be as a country? This is a policy choice. Not a political one.

We have to ask ourselves – do we want to live in a country where our kids are being gunned down in their classrooms? Where your life hangs in the balance at a grocery store, a movie theater, or a political rally?

This is the moment to decide. Overwhelmingly, we want a world where our kids can come home safe from school. Where their lives aren’t at risk because of what they believe. But we need leaders who have the courage to stand up and decide that we are no longer going to standby while one more life is taken too soon.

We’re all still reeling from the events of this week. But our community is resilient. The world feels heavy right now but we can’t give up hope. My kids and our kids depend on it.

If you are struggling and need support, please call 988 to be connected to someone who cares. Also know that my team and I are here to support you and our community every step of the way as we recover from this tragedy.

Together, we can build the future our children deserve.

U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen was first elected to represent the 7th Congressional District in Colorado in 2022.

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On the first day of Legend’s football summer camp, Ryken Banks thought he knew the drill. Except for the bit where his new coach decided he was Hellbent on being an active part of it.

“He walks in the weight room, and he looks over at us, and he was like, ‘I’m next,'” Banks, the Titans’ running back, said of Jake Heaps’ first June in Legend blue. “So, he hops in.”

Before long, Banks, who averaged 6.4 yards per carry over his first three varsity seasons, was doing something he’d never done during a Titans lifting session before: Spotting his head coach on the bench press.

“Playing since I was a freshman, I’ve kind of had the same thing for three years,” the 6-foot-1 senior reflected. “Getting this new thing, seeing the type of players we have and (Heaps) really playing to the best of our abilities, it’s just kind of a new, refreshing thing that’s exciting.”

Dave Logan’s Cherry Creek dynasty rolls on like the Gunnison River. Valor Christian is tweaking again. Legend? Your reigning Class 5A football runners-up might be the most fascinating Front Range gridiron tale south of Boulder this fall.

Bolles on board

This past February, longtime coach Monte Thelen was replaced by Heaps, better known around these parts as Russell Wilson’s personal QB guru.

It’s one of those hiring Hail Marys that can get an athletic director in hot water if things go off the rails. Yet the Titans haven’t stopped swinging big since. , got a hardship waiver to enroll at Legend, making the Titans his fourth program in four years. One of Heaps’ first hires was to bring in Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles on board to serve as director of player development.

“So, our wives are best friends. We’re best friends,” the affable Heaps, who quarterbacked BYU (2010-11), Kansas (2012-13) , told me last week. “Our kids are playing the same flag football games together. And so we got really close. But going back to the mantra of we’re going to do it better than everybody’s ever done it before. I mean, I’ve got this unbelievable resource. How am I not going to get him involved in our program?

“When I took the job, (Bolles) was like, ‘OK, what can I do?’ He wanted to jump in and be on the coaching staff. And I’m like, ‘Oh, buddy, hey, you’ve got other things to do here, man.’ When you’re done playing, heck yeah, we’ll do this thing together. But I’ve got to keep you in a certain role. I don’t need George Payton and Sean Payton breathing down my neck, you know what I mean?”

There will be more Broncos, past and present, in and around Hilltop Road in the months to come, if Heaps can keep pulling strings.

“We’re working on it,” the coach said. “… We got some good relationships still there (at Dove Valley). And so, yeah, we’re,  I’m working all those things and not trying to put it all out there all at once, but yeah — we’re taking advantage of that connection. For sure.”

Sean Payton?

He laughed.

“That’s a Garett question,” Heaps countered. “He’s always welcome. We would love to have him, for sure. But we’re excited. I think Garett having that connection is just a fun opportunity for these kids to get exposed to that.”

Russ, too?

“I don’t know if I could get him to come back for the bye week,” Heaps replied. “But Russ will certainly have an influence and an opportunity to meet our kids, and for them to meet him, absolutely. How can I not pull all the resources that I possibly can?”

Was Russ OK with this?

“That was a really cool conversation, because I couldn’t take this job without his blessing,” Heaps continued. “That’s my first priority. And the school knew that.

“And immediately he was like, ‘You’ve got to do this. You are born to do this. This is going to be such a great opportunity for you to grow your craft.’ (Him) recognizing that as a best friend, which is what he truly is, was really cool and really special.”

‘I don’t want to try to be Dave Logan’

Legend built something special under Thelen, too, which only adds to the intrigue. Heaps, meanwhile, had never coached in this state, or at this level, before the Titans sought him out. Why this gig? Why now?

“I crave impact,” Heaps said. “And the reason why I crave it is because I know how important it was to me in my career, in my journey. And how important (my) high school coach was to me and shaping me and who I am and what I became.”

The office still needs some shaping. Actually, it’s not so much an office as a skeletal approximation of the A whiteboard hangs from one wall, opposite a wall that’s entirely a whiteboard. A small couch is tucked into a back corner.

“And eventually we’ll get like a little desk over here with a couple monitors and all that,” Heaps said. “Get it ready for the film-watching and all that good stuff.”

With Wilson with the Giants and ex-Ohio State QB Will Howard, another protégé, in Pittsburgh, Heaps figures to be racking up the airline miles soon, breaking down Grandview and Columbine tape while jet-setting to NFL stops. Which sounds not unlike a certain voice of the Broncos, now that you mention it.

“(Logan) is a legend here, and he’s done such a great job,” Heaps said. “It’s so unique to take over all the programs that he has had and then to churn out consistent, constant winners … he’s been a winner his entire life. And so you admire people like that.

“And Dave is Dave. I can’t be Dave, but I can be Jake Heaps … I don’t want to try to be Dave Logan. I don’t want to try to be anybody else. Dave’s uniquely Dave. I want to be me. And that’s how I’m going to do this thing: Full throttle.”

Among his players, though, that 13-10 loss to Logan’s Bruins in the 5A title game still burns. The Titans even have a group rolling that’s called “ABC.”

As in, Always Beat Creek.

“I’m absolutely grateful for what we had last year. Don’t get me wrong,” Legend wideout Ryan Iglesias said. “But this year the hype is up, and we’re ready to hit the hype. We have everything we need.

“I’d say we’re the bar. I don’t think anyone else is the bar. I think it’s us … we’re a better team than we were before. It’s going to be the best year we’ve ever had yet. Mark my words. We’re the bar.”

Heaps has Pete Carroll on speed dial. He could hook on with any number of NFL and college staffs from coast to coast. Instead, he’s grinding away in a room with no desk yet. Lifting with his kids at the crack of dawn.

“It’s just really funny,” Iglesias noted. “Not only is it super cool to see your coach lift like that, but I think it’s better because we get to connect with our coach personally. It’s so much fun because obviously I get to lift with my boys, and then I get to lift with another head coach that I really love.”

And like it or not, he’s next.

Starting next summer, Coloradans will have to pass a background check and a training course before they can purchase a swath of semiautomatic firearms that include most of the guns known colloquially as assault weapons. also prohibits the sale of bump stocks and rapid-fire trigger activators, which are firearm components that can increase a gun’s rate of fire.

The bill’s sponsors said it was intended to prevent future mass shootings and enforce the state’s existing prohibition on high-capacity magazines.

“We have been able to add to the safety of each and every Coloradan, especially when it comes to gun violence,” said Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Centennial Democrat who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Julie Gonzales and Reps. Meg Froelich and Andy Boesenecker.

SB-3, which passed the legislature late last month, becomes the most sweeping gun-control measure passed by legislative Democrats in Colorado, and its passage into law was cheered Thursday by national gun-control groups Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety.

Though the law doesn’t impose a complete ban on assault weapons or any type of firearm, it follows in the footsteps of previous attempts in the Capitol to fully prohibit the sale or purchase of those guns. A group of activists, including local students who’d repeatedly come to the state Capitol calling for tighter regulations, attended the bill signing in the governor’s office Thursday.

Before the bill was signed, Froelich referred to those students as the “lockdown generation” that has lived their “whole school lives in the shadow of gun violence.”

“Today’s victory is because of the countless students that showed up day after day to testify in support of this life-saving bill,” Grant Cramer, a gun violence survivor and the co-president of Denver East High School’s Students Demand Action chapter, said in a statement. “We refused to take no for an answer and now we’ve strengthened our gun safety laws in Colorado. This is proof that our voices hold power to create change, no matter how big or small.”

Ian Escalante, the executive director of the group Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, called the bill’s passage into law “one of the most disgraceful things that’s ever been done in the state.” After the bill had drawn national attention from gun-rights advocates in recent weeks, the National Rifle Association quickly put out a blistering statement criticizing Polis’ decision to sign it.

Escalante said his group was considering legal options to challenge the bill — though they likely won’t be able to pursue litigation until the bill goes into effect next year. He also said he planned to pursue “electoral accountability” in 2026, referring to challenging Democrats in competitive districts.

“We’re not going to let this law stand,” he said outside the governor’s office, “whether it’s through litigation or whether we kick these bastards out and we replace them with people who will repeal it.”

Law doesn’t apply to common handguns

The new law goes into effect Aug. 1, 2026. It applies primarily to gas-operated semiautomatic firearms that accept detachable magazines, a definition that includes the AR-15 rifle and many guns like it. It would require people pass background checks from their county sheriff. Should they clear that, they would need to take either a four- or 12-hour training course, depending on whether they’ve passed a hunter safety class.

Polis said Thursday that he wanted to keep the cost of background checks and training to below $200 per person and that he wanted additional carveouts for people who’d previously been trained with the weapons.

The law does not prohibit the possession of the weapons. It does not apply to most common handguns or shotguns, and lawmakers included that are exempt from the limitations. The law also would not require anyone to turn in their firearms.

Gun shops can also continue selling firearms covered under the law, even to people who haven’t passed background checks, so long as the weapons have been altered to have a fixed magazine — meaning that they cannot be reloaded as rapidly.

All of the legislature’s 34 Republican lawmakers — along with several Democrats — voted against the bill. Conservatives labeled it an infringement on the Second Amendment and argued it would do little to stop gun violence.

Opponents delivered thousands of petitions to Democrats and to Polis’ office requesting that the proposal be rejected, and some also left flyers at the homes of Democratic lawmakers.

A skeptic of previous proposals to ban firearms at the state level, Sullivan embraced SB-3 as a means to enforce the 2013 magazine ban passed after the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting, in which Sullivan’s son, Alex, was killed. Other advocates and supporters said the bill seeks to prevent the mass shootings that have become a common feature of American life.

The new law’s limitations would apply to the guns used in the Aurora attack as well as to the weapons used at Columbine High School in 1999, at the Boulder King Soopers in 2021, and in a shooting spree in Lakewood and Denver in late 2021.

Polis sought changes to bill

As initially drafted, the bill would’ve broadly banned the sale or purchase of any gas-operated gun that accepted detachable magazines — which simultaneously would’ve escalated the magazine ban and enacted a de facto ban on most existing assault weapons.

But Polis balked, and his staff sought to insert a loophole into the measure allowing for sales to continue under certain circumstances.

In a late-night deal, Sullivan and Gonzales eventually acquiesced to the governor’s request. They added in the training and background check requirements after a needed supporter — embattled then-Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis — was absent ahead of a key vote.

In a statement accompanying the bill signing, Polis focused largely on the changes inserted into the bill to allow the firearms to still be sold to people who complete SB-3’s training and background check requirements.

“This bill ensures that our Second Amendment rights are protected and that Coloradans can continue to purchase the gun of their choice for sport, hunting, self defense, or home defense,” he wrote.

With SB-3, Colorado joins a growing list of states that have either instituted a permitting scheme — meaning requirements that people receive some sort of approval before they can purchase certain weapons — or an outright ban on semiautomatic rifles.

The law will almost certainly be challenged in court, though legal scholars and supporters have argued it stands on solid constitutional footing.

Legislative Democrats have enacted a growing list of firearms regulations, largely in the past few years as the party’s legislative majorities have grown. Sullivan said 40 gun-violence prevention bills have been introduced in recent years, nearly half of which have passed.

Those new laws include a mandatory waiting period and age limit for purchasing firearms, new gun-storage rules and additional gun shop licensing requirements. Lawmakers have also further limited where firearms can be carried and have expanded the legal avenues for a court to temporarily confiscate a person’s weapons.

After signing SB-3 on Thursday, Polis then signed intended to help bring federal funding to the state to respond to mass shootings.

— which would apply the new restrictions to the gun used in the Boulder attack — passed the House 36-28 on Monday. The bill’s Senate sponsors next will move to accept changes made in the House and then send the bill to Gov. Jared Polis.

The governor is expected to sign the measure. At Polis’ behest, lawmakers agreed to weaken the bill’s initial intent of fully banning the sale or purchase of the targeted weapons, unless they were altered to have a fixed magazine — meaning that they could not be reloaded as rapidly.

Still, the measure represents the strongest gun-control legislation passed by Colorado lawmakers since they began undertaking firearm regulation in earnest more than a decade ago.

The bill, which would take effect Aug. 1, 2026, broadly would prohibit the sale, purchase or transfer of gas-operated, semiautomatic firearms that accept detachable magazines — a definition that captures most firearms colloquially known as assault weapons.

Under the bill, the guns could still be purchased by people who’ve passed a background check and completed a training course. The legislation does not ban the possession of any weapon, and it would not apply to common pistols and shotguns. It also exempts , some of which are used for hunting.

The restrictions would apply to the gas-operated pistol used by the King Soopers shooter in March 2021. It would also cover the weapons used in the December 2021 Lakewood and Denver shooting spree; the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting; and some of those used in the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.

The bill’s sponsors — Democratic Reps. Andy Boesenecker and Meg Froelich — said the bill regulates weapons with a “unique lethality” that have been used in mass shootings across Colorado and the United States.

“A generation after Columbine — (a time) of active shooter drills, of lived experience of mass shootings — you bet I have emotions,” Froelich, an Englewood legislator in her final term, said before the vote Monday. “I’m heartbroken. I’m also determined.”

“The core root of the issue”

Republicans uniformly opposed the bill in the House and the Senate. On Monday, House Republicans questioned the measure’s constitutionality and its usefulness, and they said the law wouldn’t be followed by the people most likely to commit violent crimes.

“Deal with violence,” said Rep. Anthony Hartsook, a Parker Republican. “… The tool that is used is an extension of that violence. Until you address the crimes and the people and the mental health that’s dealing with (violence), you’re not going to get to the core root of the issue.”

SB-3 is the product of months — and, in some ways, years — of debate, negotiation and broader political shifts, all against a backdrop of seemingly ceaseless mass shootings. After two years of failed attempts to pass assault weapons bans, lawmakers introduced the measure in early January with a different approach: banning the sale of many guns that accept detachable magazines.

It’s sponsored by Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Centennial Democrat whose son, Alex, died in the Aurora theater shooting. Sullivan had at more explicit assault weapons bans, but he provided pivotal support for SB-3. He cast it as a way to ratchet up enforcement of the state’s high-capacity magazine ban — which lawmakers passed after the theater shooting.

When the bill was introduced, it had enough House and Senate co-sponsors to clear both chambers. But Polis sought a loophole, a desire enabled by a group of holdout Senate Democrats and the absence of a would-be supporter, then-Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, for the vote.

After acceding to the training and background check changes, Sullivan and co-sponsor Sen. Julie Gonzales shepherded the bill out of the Senate. It was then heavily amended in the House, largely to cut costs in a tight budget year.

Once the Senate’s sponsors accept the House’s changes, the bill goes to Polis. Earlier this month, Polis said he was “confident the improvements made to the bill will … protect our Second Amendment rights here in Colorado and improve the education and gun-safety knowledge of gun owners.”

Significant new gun regulation

Should Polis sign it, SB-3 would be a cornerstone of Colorado’s growing foundation of gun control legislation, and its passage shows just how far the state has moved in the last decade.

In 2013, Democratic lawmakers passed a package of gun-control bills, including the magazine ban. That prompted a successful campaign to recall two Democratic legislators, which then chilled additional gun legislation.

That attitude has changed as voters have increasingly sent Democrats to the statehouse. Those Democrats have grown more comfortable pursuing firearm regulation in a state plagued by mass shootings.

In the past several years, the state has adopted age limits, waiting periods, storage requirements, state permitting for gun sales, and a red-flag law allowing for the temporary removal of a person’s firearms.

Still, SB-3 prompted extensive and heated debate in both chambers, including for several hours before the final vote Monday.

The state’s history of mass shootings was also omnipresent: In response to Republican criticism that the bill would limit “law-abiding citizens” from purchasing firearms, Denver Democratic Rep. Jennifer Bacon read the names of people killed in schools and grocery stores.

Each of them, she said, was a law-abiding citizen who “died of the crime of mass shooting.”

“I want us to recognize,” she said, “that we can prevent the crime of mass murder by gun.”

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, in a newly completed autopsy report, ruled last month’s death of Anne Marie Hochhalter, a 43-year-old paralyzed in the 1999 shooting, was a homicide.

Hochhalter died of sepsis, with complications from paraplegia due to two gunshot wounds serving as a “significant contributing factor,”  Dr. Dawn B. Holmes, a forensic pathologist in the coroner’s office, wrote in the 13-page report.

Holmes’ ruling that “the manner of death is best classified as homicide,” means the death toll from the April 20, 1999, school shooting has increased to 13 students and one teacher. The two killers took their own lives.

Hochhalter, who died in her Westminster home on Feb. 16, was paralyzed after being shot in the back. She spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair with ongoing health issues. However, loved ones told The Denver Post after her death that despite her medical complications and grief, she never wanted to be portrayed as a victim.

Hochhalter lived a rich life surrounded by friends, loved ones and dogs. She advocated for the disability community and had an affinity for playing musical instruments.

“She was fiercely independent,” Sue Townsend, stepmother of 18-year-old Lauren Townsend, who died in the Columbine shooting, told The Post last month “She was a fighter. She’d get knocked down — she struggled a lot with health issues that stemmed from the shooting — but I’d watch her pull herself back up. She was her best advocate and an advocate for others who weren’t as strong in the disability community.”

The others killed at Columbine that day include Cassie Bernall, 17; Steve Curnow, 14; Corey DePooter, 17; Kelly Fleming, 16; Matt Kechter, 16; Daniel Mauser, 15; Daniel Rohrbough, 15; William “Dave” Sanders, 47; Rachel Scott, 17; Isaiah Shoels, 18; John Tomlin, 16; and Kyle Velasquez, 16.