By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
While gun owners were holding a rally outside the Colorado State Capitol in Denver this week, Democrats inside were moving forward with legislation to ban so-called “assault weapons,” with a hearing which began Tuesday and wrapped up just after midnight Wednesday.
Colorado Politics is reporting the hearing lasted about 14 hours, with nearly 600 people signed up to testify.
House Bill 1292, which bans 13 types of semiautomatic firearms identified by brand name and model in the bill test, passed on a 7-3 party-line vote in the House Judiciary Committee. Opponents of the bill, both inside the Capitol and outside at the rally, contend the problem isn’t with firearms, but with individuals, and that the result of such legislation will be the creation of so-called “soft targets” including schools.
The bill also prohibits possession of “a rapid-fire trigger activator.” Violations for a first offense can bring a fine up to $250,000 — and $500,000 for a subsequent violation, Colorado Politics reported..
One of the worst school shootings in the country happened at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado on April 20, 1999, only about two weeks prior to the scheduled annual convention of the National Rifle Association.
CBS News reported the rally was led by the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners.
The gun ban is not the only measure under consideration by Centennial State lawmakers. According to Axios, other legislation includes a special tax on gun and ammunition sales, a safe storage mandate in vehicles, and a training requirement for concealed carry licensing.
The storage bill, HB24-1348, “prohibits knowingly leaving a firearm in an unattended vehicle unless the firearm is stored in a locked hard-sided container that is not left in plain view or that is in the locked trunk of the vehicle. Unsafe storage of a firearm in a vehicle is a civil infraction, punishable by a maximum $500 fine.”
The concealed carry bill, HB24-1174, intensifies training requirements in order to obtain and subsequently renew the carry license. As explained in a synopsis of the measure, under current law, a permit applicant “must demonstrate competence with a handgun” which can be accomplished by completing a training course offered by a certified firearms instructor. Under the proposed legislation, the training must be “a law enforcement training firearms safety course or a firearms safety course taught by a verified instructor, held in person, and include instruction regarding:
- Knowledge and safe handling of firearms and ammunition;
- Safe storage of firearms and child safety;
- Safe firearms shooting fundamentals;
- Federal and state laws pertaining to the lawful purchase, ownership, transportation, use, and possession of firearms;
- State law pertaining to the use of deadly force for self-defense;
and - Best practices for safely interacting with law enforcement personnel who are responding to an emergency; and
- Techniques for avoiding a criminal attack and how to manage a violent confrontation, including conflict resolution and judgmental use of lethal force.”
The county sheriff must verify class instructors, and they must conduct the training in each respective county. Instructors must have a concealed carry permit, and be certified by a law enforcement agency, college or university, firearms training school or a nationally-recognized organization that custom,arily offers firearms training.
