In Colorado, gun control laws have been stacking up every year since finding itself as one of the first battleground states for Red Flag laws in 2018. The Red Flag ERPO bill first failed in 2018, followed by passage in 2019. Prior to that the state had been pretty quiet on the gun control front since 2013 when Colorado passed magazine capacity limits and universal background checks. The 2013 measures led to the recall of three state legislators.
But Colorado has certainly changed a lot since those days: it’s passed 12 new gun control measures in 4 years and it’s a far less safe state. Since 2019, Colorado has passed Red Flag ERPO, Repealed Preemption and Allowed Local Regulation of Firearms, Expanded Background Checks to Include Certain Misdemeanors, Created the Office Of Gun Violence Prevention, Safe Storage of Firearms requirements, Report Lost and Stolen Firearms requirements, Prohibited Firearms at Polling Places and Ballot Drop Boxes, implemented a Ghost Gun Ban, implemented a 3 Day Waiting Period, passed into law the Ability to Sue Gun Stores and Manufacturers, Raised the Minimum Purchase Age to 21, and Expanded Current Red Flag Law to allow more reporters. Whew. It’s been an exhausting few years.
The data used to compile the chart below was obtained from the Colorado State Division of Criminal Justice: Office of Research and Statistics (ORS). As you can see the homicide rate has simply skyrocketed, and most recent data shows that Colorado’s homicide rate has surpassed the national homicide rate for the first time in over 40 years.
Note: The colored dotted lines are the rates of rise in the homicide rate, and over the last 10 years (in the graph), the homicide rate has periodically been rising at faster and faster rates. This dispels any spurious arguments that the homicide rate would have been higher/worse, without the gun-laws.
Now this year, the Democrat super majority is rushing through another 10 gun control bills.
Here’s what we’re facing today: A so-called “Assault Weapons Ban”, Vehicle Firearm Storage requirements, Enhanced Concealed Carry Training requirements, Prohibition of Firearms in Sensitive Spaces, Firearm Merchant Category Code requirements, Creation of a Firearm Retailer Permitting and Oversight Program, Firearm and Ammo Excise Tax, Firearm Owner Liability Insurance requirement, and a bill to Disarm Armed School Staff and Security Programs. With the exception of the Armed School Staff bill (which died in committee), the rest are in some process making their way through the legislative session at this moment, at least 3 are heading to Governor’s desk and a couple others are not far behind.
If you would like to speak up about these bills, contact your state senators about HB24-1292 “Assault Weapons” Ban, HB24-1270 Liability Insurance, HB24-1349 Excise Tax, and HB24-1353 Retailer Permitting bill. These last four bills are all currently pending in the State Senate with only days left in the legislative session. Once you’ve contacted your own State Senator, please also contact this list.
