For the second consecutive year, a Democrat-led House panel has rejected a Republican-led attempt to expand gun rights in Colorado.
Earlier this week, five pieces of proposed legislation that would have expanded gun rights and scaled back strict gun control laws adopted in 2013 were rejected after seven hours of hearings by the House State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee in which survivors and family members of victims of gun violence were paraded before the Committee.
Defeated were:
- Senate bill 17 which would have allowed a person who legally possesses a handgun under state and federal law to carry a concealed handgun in Colorado without the need for a permit.
- House bill 1023 sought to expand the state’s “Make My Day” law to allow people to defend their place of business with deadly force. So if an owner, manager, or employee reasonably believed that an intruder is trying to commit a crime other than unlawful entry, then they would have been permitted to use physical force against the intruder.
- House bill 1024 would have repealed the large-capacity ammunition magazine ban passed in 2013.
- House bill 1179 would have created an exception to the state’s concealed carry permit process for active duty military with a concealed handgun.
- House bill 1204 would have allowed people with a concealed carry permit onto public school grounds with their weapon.
The House Democrats issued a statement that read “[A]ttempts to gut Colorado’s sensible gun safety laws have been an annual exercise in futility ever since the laws were expanded in 2013.”
House Republicans were quick to condemn the actions of the Committee, stating that the Democrats put their political agenda ahead of the needs of the people and failed to protect the rights of Coloradans to defend their loved ones and property.
There has been no comment by the bills’ sponsors as to whether further attempts at introducing new legislation will be made at this time.
The post Legislation to Expand Gun Rights Shot Down in Colorado appeared first on U.S. & Texas LawShield.