2024 CO BALLOT INITIATIVES
Colorado voters will find the following firearm and hunting related ballot initiatives on their November ballots.
Proposition KK
6.5% EXCISE TAX ON FIREARMS, FIREARM PARTS & AMMO
Colorado voters will be asked in November to impose a 6.5% excise tax on firearms, firearm parts and ammunition sold in the state beginning April 1, 2025.
The revenue, expected to be up to $39 million annually, would go to crime victim programs that lost funding from other sources.
The Colorado State Legislature voted to place this on the ballot. Because it’s a tax, it must be approved by the citizens thanks to TABOR (Taxpayers Bill of Rights).
The federal government already imposes an 11% excise tax on firearms and ammunition. California is currently the only state that imposes an excise tax on guns and ammunition.
Watch the video below to get all the facts.
VOTE NO
Proposition 127
Ban Hunting of Mountain Lions, Bobcats & Lynx
This initiative seeks to ban all hunting of mountain lions, bobcats, and Canadian lynx in Colorado, regardless of whether it’s for “trophy” purposes or not. It’s important to note that lynx hunting is already federally illegal, and trophy hunting, as defined by SPCA as “the hunting for sport, and not for food“, is currently a felony in Colorado and all meat must be harvested for human conumption.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) regulates mountain lion hunting and annually sets a harvest limit based on scientific research that covers all 960 wildlife species they manage. Out of these, only 80 species are legally huntable. The controlled hunting of these 80 species plays a crucial role in the conservation of the 880 non-huntable species that enrich Colorado’s natural landscape.
To hunt a mountain lion, individuals must complete a specific education and identification course and pass an examination before they can even apply for one of the limited mountain lion hunting licenses. Currently CPW is required to reimburse for damages from big game animals, such as damage to livestock, and mountain lion damage payments are on average $50,000 annually.
Watch the video below to get all the facts.
VOTE NO
COLORADO ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN IS DEAD!
KILLED – Assault Weapons Ban
KILLED – Firearm Liability Insurance Requirement
KILLED – School [un]Safety Measures To Disarm Private Security
NEEDS VOTER APPROVAL – 6.5% Firearms & Ammo Excise Tax
PASSED – Firearm Storage In Vehicles (substantial amendments)
PASSED – Firearms Dealer Requirements and Permit
PASSED – Firearms Merchant Category Code
PASSED – Prohibiting Carrying Firearms in Sensitive Spaces (VERY HEAVILY amended)
PASSED – Enhanced Concealed Carry Permit Training Requirements
(Note: almost all of these were amended but I only highlighted the ones that fundamentally changed the bill)
WATCH 2A UPDATE WITH AVA FLANELL & LESLEY HOLLYWOOD
Watch this video for a run down of all 2024 Colorado firearm related legislation that passed, failed, or will need voter approval.
12 Gun Control Laws Pass in 4 years and Homicide Rate Skyrockets
After over 12 hours of public testimony, 10 of which was solidly against the bill, the House Judiciary Committee passed HB24-1292 “Prohibit Certain Weapons Used in Mass Shootings” (their sneaky way of saying “Assault Weapons” ban) on 3/19/24 on a party-line vote of 7-3.
From here it will need to go to a debate and vote in the full House Chamber. This is scheduled on the legislative calendar, but they continue to lay it over each day, meaning it isn’t being heard but reappears on the calendar the next day. It also means it could go to that full vote any day.
This bill does NOT currently have a prime sponsor in the Senate, something that is required for it to be scheduled in the Senate Chamber and eventually become law.
Take this time to contact your State House representative and let them know you are oppose to this bill. You can find legislator contact info HERE. You can also begin reaching out to your State Senators.
This bill could easily clear the House Chamber but last week House Majority Leader Monica Duran told the Colorado Sun that if this bill does not get a Senate sponsor, it may never go to a vote of the full House Chamber. Instead they will continue to lay it over daily until the session ends. Forcing a two-day long debate on the house floor over the bill, and then making vulnerable Democrats vote on it, is just not worth the political capital if they know it’s dead in the senate. We continue to watch it closely.
Please keep the pressure on. We will keep you updated as it moves forward. If it finds a prime sponsor in the Senate, it will be scheduled for another public committee hearing. If it doesn’t, it will stall. This is where we can make an impact and let the Senate know they do not want to touch this bill this late in the legislative session.
It must pass both the State House and State Senate chambers to make it to the governor’s desk to become law.
Colorado Gun Law Could Have Disarmed Johnny Hurley
Two days prior to a violent madman with a vengeance being killed by an armed citizen with a concealed carry permit, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill that will allow 3,143 different localities in the state to ban concealed carry.
SB21-256 Local Regulation of Firearms would have done this.
Gun Control Groups Giffords And Brady Among Recipients Of Corononavirus Relief
Recently released records show two of the country’s most active gun control groups received Coronavirus relief during the pandemic shut down in the form of Paycheck Protection Loans.
The Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence and The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence both received the loans they likely will not need to reimburse.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
On January 1, 2020 Colorado’s Red Flag Extreme Risk Protection Orders ERPO law officially went into effect. This means Red Flag ERPO petitions will start making their way into the courts and orders will be coming out, landing in the hands of law enforcement who will then be responsible for serving them and confiscating firearms.
There is a lot to learn about this downright dangerous and unconstitutional law.
If you or someone you know is Red Flagged, the Red Flag Resource Center wants to know. This effort is a collaboration between Rally for our Rights, civil rights activists, and legal experts. It has all the information you could need about the law, what to do if you’re Red Flagged, along with attorney resources. They will also be tracking ERPO’s and providing transparency to the public.
RED FLAG RESOURCE CENTER
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