Colorado House passes bill to ban sale, purchase of “assault weapons”

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The Colorado House of Representatives on Sunday passed a bill that would ban the purchase, sale and transfer of a broad swath of semiautomatic firearms, defined in the measure as assault weapons. The legislation now faces an uncertain fate in the Senate.

House Bill 1292 passed 35-27, mostly along party lines, with three representatives excused.

Republicans in the chamber voted uniformly against the measure. They were joined by nine Democrats, mostly from swing districts, including Reps. Meghan Lukens of Steamboat Springs, Marc Snyder of Manitou Springs, Bob Marshall of Highlands Ranch and Mary Young of Greeley.

Republicans argued during roughly four hours of debate during a rare Sunday workday at the Capitol that the measure would violate the Second Amendment and that it wouldn’t address the societal causes of mass shootings, like mental health.

“This bill does not address the real issues that we have in our state,” said Rep. Lisa Frizell, a Castle Rock Republican. “It does nothing.”

Democrats said it was a step toward addressing a uniquely American problem, invoking the massacres in Littleton, at Columbine High School; in Aurora, at the Century 16 movie theater; and in Boulder, at the King Sooper’s grocery story in the city’s Table Mesa Neighborhood.

“I don’t believe this bill is going to stop all gun violence,” said Rep. Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat. “I don’t believe this bill is going to stop all the crime. But I do believe this bill will help if we also are willing to talk about why people don’t value each other’s lives, how we can talk to young people about trying to solve problems in different ways.”

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it’s unclear if it has enough support to advance to be sent to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk.

Democrats have a 23-12 majority in the Senate, but the chamber is considered far more moderate than the House. The measure didn’t have a main sponsor in the Senate until recently, when Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat, agreed to try to shepherd the legislation forward.

Senate President Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, told The Sun he would vote for a bill banning so-called assault weapons if given the chance. But he doubts the measure will have enough votes to clear the Senate.

“These aren’t my reservations necessarily. (But) it’s difficult, as we’ve seen, to have effective gun violence prevention policies on a state level,” Fenberg said. “Obviously I’m not saying ‘let’s not do anything at the state level, let’s pass it to the feds,’ because we know they’re not going to do anything. But I do think there are legitimate conversations about promising something big to society, knowing that the policy in and of itself isn’t going to produce all those results.”

Fenberg said he hopes the measure would save lives if it passes and is signed into law — which appears improbable — “but I also think we know there’s a lot of assault weapons already out there in people’s hands.”

House Bill 1292 doesn’t ban possession of so-called assault weapons, so it wouldn’t reduce the number of guns Coloradans already own.

Fenberg said the majority of his caucus believes “that we shouldn’t have assault weapons out there in the hands of so many people.” But he doesn’t know if that translates to the policy getting across the finish line.

“People who want to do harm are probably still going to be able to find ways to do harm,” Fenberg said. “So I think it’s more nuanced than just simply: Do we have 18 votes to pass an assault weapon bill?”

If the bill — a similar version of which failed in the House last year — somehow does pass the Senate, it will be sent to a skeptical Polis.

“I’ve long been skeptical of discussions around ‘this kind of equipment versus that kind of equipment,’” the Democrat told The Sun in an interview earlier this month. “I think it’s more an issue of making sure our gun safety laws are followed. I think where you can and can’t safely carry guns is a legitimate discussion, as well as making sure that our strong gun laws are enforced.”

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1. These dumbasses have no idea what an assault weapon is nor the fact that something like a Ruger Mini-14 is the same as an AR-15 just way less scary looking
2. Shall not be infringed is pretty clear
3. I guess they forget they tried this in 1994 and it didn't work out
4. I hope they push so far that it goes to the SC and we even see a rebuke of the 1986 full auto ban BS