Colorado is in a ‘golden moment’ for reform

Here’s what to expect

Colorado Democrats formally unveiled their marquee firearm legislation Thursday, setting into motion plans they’ve previewed for months and what could be session-defining fights over gun rights and access.

The four bills form the primary thrust of the legislature’s landmark gun-safety effort, though lawmakers have said other proposals — including an assault weapon ban and ghost gun regulations — are still in the works.

The package described Thursday would require a person be 21 before they can have or purchase a gun, and would require a three-day waiting period between buying and possessing the weapon. The proposals would also expand who can use the state’s red-flag law and roll back legal protections for gun manufacturers and sellers.

“Our guiding principle while crafting these pieces of legislation has been very, very simple: What can we do right now that will save the most lives in Colorado tomorrow?” said Senate President Steve Fenberg, who’s co-sponsoring the red-flag bill with Centennial Democrat Sen. Tom Sullivan.

Democrats, who won a super-majority in the House and a near super-majority Senate, are in a “golden moment” to address gun violence, said Rep. Meg Froelich. She described Colorado as being behind other states on gun control and said the four bills represent the most prepared, evidence-based approaches. Lawmakers want to balance attention between daily gun violence, she said, while being appropriately reactive to mass shootings, like the Nov.19 shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs that left five dead.

That shooting intensified focus on the state’s extreme risk protection order, or red flag, law. It allows local law enforcement to petition for a person’s firearms to be temporarily confiscated if the person is judged to be a threat to themselves or others. El Paso County law enforcement was aware that the

Club Q suspect had threatened to commit a mass shooting, and they’ve received criticism — including from some lawmakers — for not doing more before the November attack.

The bill announced Thursday would allow more people — including district attorneys, educators and certain health care providers — to file for an extreme risk protection order, the formal name for the red flag law’s use.

Gov. Jared Polis, who called for an examination of the redflag law after Club Q, said in a statement Thursday that he’s also “encouraged by the general direction around waiting periods, and raising the age to 21 for gun purchases. “

Sullivan, whose son Alex was killed in the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, described how the shooter’s therapist was unable to intervene before the attack. Sullivan marks the weekly anniversary of the tragedy every Friday in the Senate. He said it would continue to drive his legislative efforts.

“I want the people of Colorado to remember,” Sullivan said, pausing to gather his emotions, “that I will never stop in my quest to save the life of another Coloradan from the public health crisis that is gun violence. This bill is just that type of legislation that can help all of us in the work we have been asked to do.”

The “suite of bills,” as Fenberg described the gun legislation, would also remove specific protections that insulate gun sellers and manufacturers from civil lawsuits in Colorado. Democrats have described the state’s protections for those organizations as “overly broad” and pointed to an Aurora shooting victim’s parents, who were ordered to pay more than $200,000 in attorneys fees after an unsuccessful lawsuit.

Dr. Emmy Betz, director of the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said it’s hard to prejudge the efficacy of the proposals. There’s been limited federal funding for gun violence prevention research, she said, and the different regulations and characteristics of states and communities make it hard to suss out an individual policy’s effects.

For example, she said, there’s some evidence that a minimum age for firearm possession can help prevent youth suicide, but she hasn’t seen evidence it affects homicide or mass shooting rates.

But, she continued, “just because there’s not evidence that something works, it doesn’t mean something won’t work.”

Betz, who does not advocate for policy solutions, said it’s also important to include a diversity of viewpoints and appreciate that one person’s safety measure may make another feel less safe. Changes should be iterative, with policymakers coming back and seeing what works, what doesn’t and what needs tweaking, she said.

Policy needs to be in conjunction with other programs, such as suicide prevention and youth outreach. She has a particular interest in how changes to infrastructure, such as turning a vacant lot into a community park, diminish overall violence in an area.

“It’s really important to recognize the violence that is happening right now, no one wants it, whether it’s mass shootings or suicide or the horrible shootings that happen on a daily basis predominately in urban areas,” Betz said. “No one wants them, but there’s no magic cure. Policy alone isn’t going to fix it.”