Dems offer 3 new gun bills

Republicans say focus should be on mental health, not weapons

Colorado lawmakers debuted a package of three more gun bills Thursday, saying more needed to be done after last month’s mass shooting at a Boulder King Soopers.

These bills join three others that Democrats brought forward this year. Gov. Jared Polis has signed two — HB21-1106, requiring the safe storage of firearms in homes, and SB21-078, to mandate reporting of lost or stolen guns. Another that would prevent some domestic abusers from keeping their guns is making its way through the legislature.

For weeks, Democrats said they were planning to introduce more gun legislation, and much of what was presented Thursday was expected: SB21-256, to allow local governments to pass guns laws that go beyond the state’s; HB211298, to strengthen the background-check process; and HB211299, to create an Office of Gun Violence Prevention (which would also be tasked with education about the state’s “red flag” law).

“It’s been just over a month since 10 lives were stolen from my community,” Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg said. “These lives were stolen while at a King Soopers, where my family and I do our shopping. These lives were stolen while they were working in their jobs, maybe helping a customer bag their groceries. Others may have been grabbing that last

item to make a family dinner for that evening.”

Republicans opposed all three previous bills.

Senate GOP spokesman Sage Naumann and House Minority Leader Hugh McKean said their caucuses haven’t seen the text of the new bills, but they believe the focus should be on mental health.

“We will review any legislation with an open mind, but we, on principle do not believe punishing law-abiding Coloradans is the way to solve this problem,” Naumann said.

McKean, a Loveland Republican, said many of the ideas introduced are ineffective and unenforceable and don’t address what he sees as the root cause of the problem: mental health problems. GOP Rep. Dan Woog of Erie added that those who want to commit a crime will find a way to get a gun regardless of such laws.

Democrats, however, say they are backing multiple pieces of legislation related to mental health, even if they’re not all directly tied to guns. If created as proposed, the Office of Gun Violence Prevention also will include programming on crisis management.

And experts have warned that the discussion about mental health after mass shootings often doesn’t provide the full story.

Notably, Democrats did not include a statewide assault weapons ban in their proposals, nor setting up mandatory waiting periods, despite discussing it since the beginning of session.

The local control bill is being sponsored by Fenberg and Rep. Edie Hooton, Boulder Democrats.

Just before the King Soopers shooting, a Boulder County district judge blocked the city from enforcing its 2018 ban on “assault-style weapons” and magazines with a capacity to accept 10 or more rounds, citing a 2003 state law that preempts local gun restrictions.

Sponsors of the background check measure want to institute a five-year gun-purchase ban after someone is convicted of certain violent misdemeanors, which Boulder Democratic Rep. Judy Amabile said could have stopped the man charged in the Boulder shooting from buying the gun that was used. Lawmakers also said they believe it will close the so-called “Charleston loophole,” which had allowed the man who killed nine people at a South Carolina church in 2015 to purchase his gun.

The Office of Gun Violence Prevention would be tasked with collecting data and setting up strategies and programs to prevent gun violence, including street outreach programs. Sen. Rhonda Fields of Aurora, one of the bill’s sponsors, said the office also will be working with communities of color.

“Every year, thousands of of people die in the state of Colorado from firearms, and their deaths have a tremendous impact on us,” Fields said. “And as a state and as lawmakers, we can’t continue to avoid gun violence.”