Two of the four gun control bills have passed both the Senate and the House and are now on their way to Governor Polis, who is expected to sign them. You still have a chance to contact the Governor one more time to express your displeasure.
Eliminating gun purchases by 18-21-year olds and expansion of the Red Flag law will do absolutely nothing to reduce gun violence in Colorado. Criminals, regardless of age, will continue to have guns. In fact, youth violence has been on the rise in the state the past few years. The proof the law won’t stop any of this violence will take a while to show itself, but it certainly will.
Expanding the Red Flag law, allowing more people to be able to petition a court to remove someone’s weapons, will also take a while to prove its ineffectiveness. Red Flag laws are rife with the potential for abuse, and even approving a Federal version that impacts all states equally isn’t a valid solution.
One bright note in this session is that the “assault weapons ban” has been shelved for now. It was supposed to be discussed in a public hearing last week, but was postponed and then abruptly held over in committee. That doesn’t mean we won’t see it come back sometime in the next few weeks before the session ends, but it’s a good sign that public input may be having an impact.