By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Democrats in Colorado want to require Centennial State residents to wait three days before completing any firearms purchases, and they also want to raise the minimum purchase/possession age to 21 years, in a package of four bills announced Thursday, according to Colorado Public Radio (CPR).
Also on their wish list is a bill allow liability lawsuits against gun manufacturers, and expand the list of people who can file for extreme risk protection orders (“red flag laws’).
The story noted that the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners are bracing for a fight.
The three-day waiting period is spelled out in House Bill 1219, which says Colorado poste 274 homicides by firearm in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available. The age group with the highest rate of firearm slayings was 15-24 years, which may suggest something other than a waiting period might provide relief, since juveniles can’t buy firearms.
The bill also says in 2020, Colorado “had the sixth highest suicide rate in the United States; in 2021, there were 740 suicides by firearm in Colorado, which was more than half of all suicides in the state.” If it passes, the law would become effective Oct. 1.
It would not apply to antique firearms purchases or to legal transfers not requiring background checks.
Senate Bill 169 is the measure to hike the minimum age for buying and possessing firearms to 21 years. The bill exempts possession for people under that age who are hunting or involved in target shooting at a range or involved in organized competition. Also, some purchases would be allowed to young adults over age 18 who possess a hunting license, but this would not include handguns or semi-auto rifles.
According to the CPR story, Taylor Rhodes, who heads the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, is promising to turn the capitol building “into a circus” in an effort to show state lawmakers—whom he referred to as “tyrants that want to steal your freedom”—the group is not going to back down.
The bill to allow lawsuits against gunmakers is Senate Bill 168. Like similar proposals in other states, this one is likely to collide with the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, signed by former President George W. Bush to prohibit what the gun industry referred to as “junk lawsuits” filed against the industry over the criminal misuse of guns. Critics of such proposals say this idea is like motorists filing lawsuits against automobile manufacturers for car crashes caused by drunken or drug-impaired drivers.
Then there is Senate Bill 170, which would expand the list of people who can file for an extreme risk protection order (ERPO), commonly referred to as a “red flag” law. According to the legislative synopsis, “Under current law a family or household member and a law enforcement officer or agency can petition for an extreme risk protection order. The bill expands the list of who can petition for an extreme risk protection order to include licensed medical care providers, licensed mental health-care providers, licensed educators, and district attorneys.”
Colorado is only the latest state where Democrats are pushing gun control packages. This pattern also includes Michigan, Minnesota, Washington and California, among others.
