Senate supports red flag gun bill
Measure faces a final vote in the chamber, likely early next week; then it goes to House to resolve changes
Colorado’s Democratic-controlled state Senate advanced a bill late Friday to let courts order the removal of guns from people deemed to be a risk to themselves or others.
The debate over House Bill 1177 ran some 12 hours, but the vote came down as expected, with Republicans opposing the extreme risk protection order or “red flag” bill and Democrats supporting it.
The voice vote about 7:30 p.m. was only the beginning of the drama on the Senate floor, as Republicans triggered a procedure to continue debate, keeping senators at work.
About 9 p.m., Senate President Leroy Garcia of Pueblo asked for all senators to return to the chamber. That triggered a search by the State Patrol to find five Republican senators who had left the building hours earlier. According to a GOP Senate spokesperson, two were on their way to the Western Slope, and at least one had left the state altogether.
When faced with the prospect that the Senate could stay in session all night waiting for lawmakers to return, the GOP’s Sage Naumann said, “We’ve got pillows.”
Keith Barnish, a spokesman for the Senate Democrats, showed
equal enthusiasm: “We’re just doing the work of the people.”
Ultimately, party leaders brokered a deal to proceed with debate and end the search for the absent senators — Don Coram, Ray Scott, Kevin Priola, Jim Smallwood and Larry Crowder — but mark them absent during debate on a bill that their party sees as a top-priority Second Amendment issue.
Democrats’ victory in passing the bill came after a week that saw two other bills held up in the Senate, where the party holds a slim majority. Democrats delayed a floor vote on repealing the death penalty amid concerns it might not pass. Then paid family leave was held up in committee to run an analysis on the financial impact of possible amendments.
The red flag bill has a final vote in the Senate, likely early next week, before it returns to the House to vote on minor Senate changes.
The way an extreme-risk-protection order would work under this bill is that law enforcement, a family member or a household member could petition a judge for the removal of a person’s firearms. The judge would hold a hearing — without the gun owner being present — to decide whether to grant a temporary order for up to 14 days.
During those two weeks, the gun owner and the person who asked for the order would tell the judge why those weapons should or shouldn’t be returned. The judge could extend the order for up to 364 days.
“I grew up in Colorado. I was at Chatfield High School when the Columbine shooting happened. My brother took his own life, and I am sick of seeing gun-related tragedy after gun-related tragedy,” said Sen. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, in a release after the vote. “This legislation will save lives, and I am proud that we are one step closer to it become law.”
Republicans tried to offer several different amendments during Friday’s floor debate, but Democrats voted them all down.
Sen. Jack Tate, R-Centennial, offered an amendment to put back explicit civil protections for people who are falsely accused, including allowing them to seek legal action and court costs. The language was part of the House bill, but a Senate committee took it out.
Sen. Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins, tried to add language directing courts to destroy all documentation related to an extreme risk protection order if it was dismissed either at the first hearing for that temporary, two-week or“We der or at the second hearing where the gun owner is present.
“It’s about protecting the innocent,” Marble said.
But Democrats maintain that the bill has ample due process protections.
Sen. Mike Foote, D-Lafayette, said people filing false reports would be subject to criminal prosecution and the clear and convincing standard used to take someone’s firearms away for up to one year is the same standard Colorado uses for removing children from their homes.