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January 26, 2016 01:48 PM UTC

Gun Bills Head For Usual Fate, With One Improbable Maybe

  • 12 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Guns.
Guns.

As the Colorado Independent’s Corey Hutchins reports, Republicans in the Colorado General Assembly led by Sen. Tim Neville are pushing most of the usual slate of pro-gun bills in 2016, starting with another attempt to repeal the 15-round magazine limit passed in 2013:

Lawmakers in Colorado, including one state Senator who’s running for higher office, have introduced at least three measures to expand gun rights so far at the start of this year’s legislative session.

One of the bills, unsurprisingly, is aimed at rolling back a 2013 package of legislation that limited to 15 the amount of bullets a gun magazine could hold in Colorado. One of the sponsors in the Senate is Tim Neville of Jefferson County who is running in the crowded GOP primary field for U.S. Senate this year. The bill is pretty simple: It repeals the 2013 law, and “declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.”

Another bill, also sponsored in part by Neville, would extend to the workplace the state’s ‘Make My Day’ law, which allows Coloradans to use deadly force against intruders in their own homes under certain circumstances. This new law would allow the same ability to “owners, managers, and employees of businesses.”

A third measure would scrap the permitting requirements for carrying a concealed weapon in Colorado.

The last of these bills mentioned, Senate Bill 16-017 eliminating additional permit requirements to carry concealed weapons, is up for a hearing tomorrow in the Senate State Affairs Committee. Interestingly, we have not seen a bill yet to repeal the requirement for background checks to be conducted for most gun purchases, something gun rights supporters has clamored loudly for but has always been the most popular of the 2013 reform measures. Today, polling in Colorado and nationally shows consistent and enduring support for expanding background checks, making Colorado a leader on the issue–so maybe this is a fight we won’t be having in Colorado in 2016.

The one proposal on which we might yet see some fireworks in the legislature this year would be a much-threatened but as-yet unintroduced bill to relax the magazine limit law from the current 15 maximum rounds to 30 rounds–a change that would allow the 30-round high-capacity mags considered “standard” on AR-15 assault rifles to be sold in Colorado once again. This idea was championed last year by Jon Caldara of the Independence Institute as an incremental measure, but was summarily rejected by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and their powerful bloc of legislators–who say any magazine limit “compromise” short of full repeal would be unacceptable.

The latest word as we understand it is that Democrats have no interest in either helping Caldara look good or defusing internal conflict between Republicans–which sharply reduces the possibility of the Democratic defections Caldara would need. That combined with the RMGO’s lockdown of its member legislators against raising the mag limit seems to indicate that no such end run is in the offing.

If that changes you’ll know, because nothing turns up the volume at the Capitol like a good squabble over guns.

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12 thoughts on “Gun Bills Head For Usual Fate, With One Improbable Maybe”

  1. The smartest thing Democrats could possibly do for themselves would be to get on board with Caldara on the magazine ban. This law is costing you votes. If you compromise and allow standard magazines again it will remove a big arrow in the Republican quiver.

    DO YOU THINK I WOULD TELL YOU THIS IF IT WASN'T TRUE? Why would I want to help Democrats? Of course Colorado Pols will not take my advice. But maybe there's a Democrat out there who will……

    1. Sorry, Moddy.  Dickie Lee will put this one to sleep as she did its predecessor.  I do love how you got the memo and used the correct term, though– "standard magazine."

      Summarized History for Bill Number HB15-1009

      01/07/2015 Introduced In House - Assigned to State, Veterans, & Military Affairs
02/02/2015 House Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Postpone Indefinitely

      1. That is not the right bill. I am not talking about the full repeal of the mag ban. Are you 100% sure that no Democrats would vote to raise the limit to 30 rounds? Whoever did would advance their political career and help their fellow Democrats. The mag ban is a political loser for Democrats and even Dicky Lee knows that.

        Raise the limit to 30 rounds! This may be the only time I will ever give liberals serious political advice.

        2. Thanks for that heads up.  Really!

          (. . . But, it's not like there's anyone here who didn't already know that everything else you've posted here is crap.  Really!) 

        4. Mods – there are Democrats, such as Pueblo's Senator Leroy Garcia, who might vote to repeal the 15 round limit. At least, Garcia was never willing to be on record supporting it. He would not ever support the other gun bills Neville and RMGO want.

          The lack of permitting for concealed carry would be a nightmare…Somalia Springs would export its gun-totin' white Christian terrorists to the rest of the state.

           I've been in charge of a large cash till, and had concealed carrying guys standing around for my "protection".  Funny – it didn't make me feel safer at all. I just had to plan where to get out of the crossfire.

          On extending "Make my Day" to the workplace -someone more expert than I can weigh in – isn't this redundant to existing self-defense law in Colorado? That is, a person can already meet deadly force with deadly force, but one is not necessarily entitled to gun down the kid who steals a bag of chips?

    2. Why would I want to help Democrats? 

      Well, of course, you don't. You are just desperate to get the law changed so you can go back to stroking your banana clip…and you think you can somehow sway someones opinion with bullshit…nothing out of the ordinary.

  2. The Democrats should put up a bill to ban concealed carry and require only open carry.
    "Flaunt it if you got them"
    "Put all your cards on the table"
    "Transparency"
    "The Proud, the Few, the numbnuts"

      1. I sure agree with that…maybe, though, when we all start packing heat and we develop the new social more that it is OK to settle our disputes with gunplay, we will save so much money on our courts and penal system we can cut the taxes for the rich some more….howzabout? 

  3. Moderatus you should check around your local gun shops – many are selling standard 30 round mags despite the law….with as many LEO's opposed to the law it seems it has done little to deter sales. They are much less expensive now too. 

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