Odd timing for Colorado’s newest Senate minority party to protect Second Amendment rights.

In a statement this morning, Colorado Senate Democrats spurned Senate Republicans for voting against an amendment that would “make the concealed carry background check process quicker.”

In an email titled “BREAKING: Republicans vote to make your wait longer to get a concealed carry permit,” Denver Democrat Mike Johnston blasted the GOP for treading all over the Constitution, man.

“As a gun owner, I find this offensive,” he writes. “Taxpayers are paying fees to get a public service. These are funds that have already been collected and sitting in a bank. … We shouldn’t make people wait to get a concealed carry permit because of political games.”

I’d argue differently. The state would argue differently. And Johnston — the Dems’ eloquent oratory ringer in the Senate — shouldn’t argue at all.

None of Johnston’s campaign materials mention he’s a gun owner — the word “gun” appears three times in his “On the Issues” page and none of them make mention that he owns one — and his signature speech last year concerning the magazine limit ban was not focused on responsible gun ownership. It’s safe to say Johnston did not run on a platform of being a “gun owner.”

The state’s law requires the Department of Safety to approve or deny applications for concealed carry permits within 90 days. In 2013-2014, the wait was 45 days. This year the wait is expected to reach 54 days, according to the department’s own accounting. Adequate time to complete thorough and adequate background checks. After all, we’re not Utah for godsake.

(The application bump could easily be attributed to “political games” too, namely the GOP’s incessant cry that the gummamint is coming for everyone’s guns and bullets and names, despite data showing the exact opposite.)

But the “gun-friendly” amendment that was voted down was instead an appropriation for 8 full-time employees to the department of safety’s staff, something that had a snowball’s chance in a GOP-held Senate this year. Johnston knew that, the Dems knew it, and to bang the drum with obfuscation of what happened — they didn’t vote for longer waits, they voted against a supplemental appropriation — isn’t legislating.

That’s political gaming.