Interruptions and ‘vigorous’ opposition

Thursday’s announcement was interrupted first by fire alarms and later by a gun rights activist who challenged the proposals’ legality.

The first fire alarm rang as Rep. Judy Amabile, a Boulder Democrat, described racing to a gun shop to beg the owner not to sell a firearm to her son, who was in a mental health crisis. Amabile is co-sponsoring the waiting-period bill, which is intended to prevent suicides and give a crucial “cooling off” period between crisis and act.

The alarm, which the Colorado State Patrol attributed to a technical issue, prompted a short evacuation of the entire Capitol.

A second alarm rang 10 minutes after the event restarted, as Jane Dougherty, whose sister was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting, spoke in support of the bills. Dougherty did not stop speaking, and the press conference continued as lights flashed in the surrounding corridors.

“These four bills introduced today are critical to continuing the work to save lives, and I am so grateful for the legislators that are sponsoring these important bills,” she said.

Opposition to the package is certain. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, a gun rights organization that has already pledged to fight gun control legislation in court, reiterated that threat Thursday: The group’s executive director, Taylor Rhodes, interjected to ask lawmakers about the legality of the proposals. As Fenberg tried to move on, Rhodes and Sullivan promised to see each other in court.

Rhodes later said his group plans to turn the building “into a circus” over the bills.

House Minority Leader Mike Lynch, a Wellington Republican, said that disruptive tactics aren’t part of his caucus’s plan and that he won’t promote that kind of behavior. But he pledged as much a fight as his minority

can muster.

“You will see as vigorous of an opposition to this as any legislation you’ve seen come through here,” Lynch said.

Last year, House Republicans mounted a 24-hour filibuster against the Reproductive Health Equity Act, which codified the right to an abortion in state law. Lynch said the proposed gun legislation was as serious as abortion to his members’ constituents.

“(Democrats) mentioned this as a monumental, historic day for Colorado, and a lot of me agrees with that,” Lynch said shortly after the proposals were introduced. “Because this is the biggest single unified effort to attack our Second Amendment rights that we’ve seen, I think, probably in Colorado history.”

Lynch also noted the “unspeakable tragedy” driving some of the Democrats on the bill and didn’t impugn their motives. He instead called it “overreach” in response to such tragedies. His counterpart in the Senate, minority leader Paul Lundeen, said he was concerned about the bills’ constitutionality “and more importantly how these bills will impede Coloradans’ ability to defend themselves and their families amidst this crime crisis in which we find ourselves.”

Lynch said he hadn’t been able to read the justintroduced legislation, but his initial concerns include people losing their right to possess firearms over another’s opinion of their fitness, youths on farms not being able to shoot predators due to the under the 21-and-over proposal and general concerns about personal protection, particularly in rural parts of the state.

Even outside of deliberate opposition, what is sure to be contentious debates and hearings on the proposals have the potential

to “gum up the system,” Lynch said, while upping partisan tensions on unrelated issues.