DENVER | Colorado’s Democrat-controlled House on Tuesday advanced legislation requiring firearms to be securely stored to prevent unauthorized youth and other persons from accessing them.
The 40-25 vote, virtually along party lines, came after 10 hours of debate on Monday in which Democrats repeatedly rejected efforts by Republican lawmakers to modify the measure.
Dejected Republicans questioned before the vote whether the bill would correct conduct by responsible gun owners or seek to criminalize them.
Under the measure, misdemeanor violations could carry fines of $250 to $1,000. The bill also requires licensed gun dealers to provide locking devices when selling or transferring firearms. Noncompliance would be a misdemeanors with fines of up to $500.
About 31 Colorado teens and young adults under 20 on average have been involved in firearm suicides annually, according to the bill’s fiscal note.
Republicans insisted the bill could prevent responsible gun owners from quickly accessing their weapons during emergencies.
“I can’t believe that none of the good ideas (presented by Republicans) weren’t good enough,” said House minority leader, Rep. Hugh McKean.
Only one amendment, by GOP Rep. Terri Carver, was adopted. It provides for education on safe storage of guns outside of homes.
Democratic Reps. Kyle Mullica and Monica Duran, the bill’s House sponsors, argued the bill would help reduce suicides by youth and others and accidental shootings.
A 2017 study analyzing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Violent Death Reporting System found that across the U.S., approximately 19 children a day die or are medically treated for gunshot wounds.
Tuesday’s vote sends the bill to the Democrat-controlled Colorado Senate.
Senators advanced a separate bill Tuesday that would require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms or face $25 fines.
Sponsored by Democratic Sens. Jessie Danielson and Sonya Jaquez Lewis, the bill states that subsequent violations would be considered misdemeanors punishable by fines of $50 to $750, and the possibility of six months in jail as a maximum penalty.
A final Senate vote would send that bill to the House.
The only lives to be lost here are those of children and possibly some mentally disturbed people. There are many ways to securely store firearms that require extremely little time to release for usage. Failure to bring that point up is the key flaw in the resistance to this proposal.
just another meaningless feel good law that criminalizes normal daily behaviour that gun haters detest. how will it be enforced???? mandatory no knock visits by swat teams looking for weapons that are not locked???
Dennis, if you are a responsible gun owner and keep firearms away from children, then you have zero to worry about. There are no gun haters here, we just hate irresponsible people that don’t care if our children get killed.
How will this be enforced? Will there be social worker inspections of gun owner homes to ensure compliance? Just another feel good measure that will not change anything.
Thank you, legislators. Can someone tell me why Republicans are so in favor of indiscriminate and accidental shooting?
Another sad day, of so called law makers, willfully breaking the law to strip every law abiding Citizen, of their right to bear arms…
Every one of you politicians, are beyond hypocritical; when you refuse to accept opposing opinions from out of state protestors’, but jump on the money train from the likes of Mike Bloomberg…
Another sad day, of so called law makers, willfully breaking the law to strip every law abiding Citizen, of their right to bear arms…
Every one of you politicians, are beyond hypocritical; when you refuse to accept opposing opinions from out of state protestors’, but jump on the money train from the likes of billionaire gun control Civil Rights violators: like Mike B…
Another sad day, of so called law makers, willfully breaking the law to strip every law abiding Citizen, of their right to bear arms…
Every one of you politicians, are beyond hypocritical; when you refuse to accept opposing opinions from out of state, but jump on the money train from the likes of billionaire gun control Civil Rights violators!
“Republicans insisted the bill could prevent responsible gun owners from quickly accessing their weapons during emergencies.” Then my suggestion is that the owner keep his weapon on his person at all times, if they are concerned about ’emergencies’, because those can occur at anytime and no matter locked or unlocked the weapon will not be handily available….that’s just common sense.
Responsible gun owners already should be in compliance, not because of a law, but because of the horror that could ensue from an unsafely stored weapon. What’s the beef?
Dennis, what is the ‘normal daily behavior’? Leaving a loaded gun on a table? Leaving a loaded gun in a hearing room at the Capitol? Not reporting a lost or stolen gun? Keeping a gun and ammunition in easy reach of a child? Law abiding gun owners already do the right things. What’s your complaint?
Is there a tally of how many people were able to prevent attacks in their homes, cars, etc. I have a good idea of how many people, how many little ones, how many suicides, how many road rage and mass shootings have happened because we insist on anachronistic errors in thinking that keep us all jittery. In defense of the police, how can we expect balanced decisions from people who are being asked to do a job in a war zone.
There have been enough murders and threats, done by out of balance people with weapons of mass destruction. I applaud any move to keep that community safe from those who seem to fear their fellow man to the extent that the innocent are sacrificed on a regular basis. The worst is when everyone asks about “motive”. That kind of diverts attention from how outrageous it is that we allow low level ethics to continue to destroy our Pursuit of Happiness.
We got rid of slavery, let’s dump some more concepts that are holding us down. Come on white folks, don’t make the unwhite do all the heavy lifting in this evolving thing. This one time, let’s get ahead of the curve, like every other country that we want to visit has done.
I meant “the community”
Yet another small step – one of many to come – toward disarmament of the people in preparation for the Democratic Party’s version of Socialism (Communism). Solve the social problems (the abandonment of God and family), secure our borders and everything else will fall into place.