DENVER — After passing a final vote in the Colorado House of Representatives on Monday, a contentious gun bill is one step closer to becoming law.
Senate Bill 25-003 would not affect guns that Coloradans already own but would add restrictions for new purchases of certain gas-powered semi-automatic guns that accept detachable magazines. Buyers would first need to complete a training course and get approval from their county sheriff.
The bill was first introduced in January and has seen countless hours of testimony and debate.
Previous coverage of Senate Bill 25-003:
CO bill aims to ban sale, manufacture of semiauto guns with detachable magazines CO Senate committee advances bill seeking to ban certain semi-auto firearms Colorado bill banning certain semiautomatic weapons gets initial approval Controversial gun bill passes Colorado Senate, even as two initial sponsors flipSupporters say the bill would target weapons commonly used in mass shootings, like the AR-15, and save lives.
“I'm tremendously relieved,” State Rep. Meg Froelich, one of the bill’s prime sponsors, said after the vote.
Froelich, a Democrat representing District 3, which covers Greenwood Village, said the bill would help the state enforce its ban on magazines larger than 15 rounds. But she also sees it as a sign to the public that lawmakers are committed to addressing the issue of gun violence, even if similar efforts have stalled in recent years.
“I am just tremendously grateful to the people who've been coming to the Capitol for decades, including gun violence survivors, and I'm still tremendously moved by their activism,” she told Denver7. “I think that's really what we voted on today was to honor our promises to them.”
Many gun owners strongly oppose the bill. Gun advocate groups like Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO) argue among the bill’s issues is it fails to establish the funding or staffing necessary for this new permit-to-purchase system. They also argue it’s vague and unfairly targets law-abiding gun owners.
“All they want to do is they want to chip away, once again, at the Second Amendment,” said Ian Escalante, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. “It's completely arbitrary. You're going to have to go through this long, drawn-out process of buying your rights back. And the legislators up there, they don't really seem to care.”
The bill has seen opposition from both parties and more than 30 amendments.
“That means actually good process, listening to people, trying to amend it, to answer their concerns,” Froelich argued.
Escalante disagrees.
“If you have to amend a bill 30-odd times, or something like that, just to get it through each committee stop, there's a problem with the bill,” he said.
The most recent amendments added during debate in the House means the bill now goes back for another vote in the Senate to concur with those amendments. That vote is scheduled for Tuesday. If the Senate votes again to pass the bill, it then moves to Governor Jared Polis’ desk.
RMGO told Denver7 in February that if the bill is signed into law, the group would consider suing the state.
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