Edgewater, CO Gets Flooded With Opposition Over Proposed Gun Control, Scales It Back

Posted on by Lesley Hollywood

Edgewater, CO Gets Flooded With Opposition Over Proposed Gun Control, Scales It Back

On Tuesday, April 19 the Edgewater City Council held a work session to discuss a whole laundry list of potential gun control ordinances the city could consider passing. This was on the heels of another work session they’d held where a representative from gun control extremist group Ceasefire Colorado gave a presentation about how to “reduce gun violence” in their city, during which they provided grossly inaccurate information to the council. It should be noted Edgewater is a city of 5,000 people and less than 1 square mile that sits in the suburbs west of Denver in Jefferson County.

Here is the list the City Council discussed item by item during Tuesday’s meeting (read our prior writeup here):

  1. Prohibiting open carry city-wide.
  2. Prohibiting concealed carry in city-owned buildings and areas, including:
    1. Civic Center and city parks.
  3. Prohibiting conceal carry in other areas and buildings in Edgewater, including:
    1. Bars and liquor stores.
    2. Daycare centers and preschools.
    3. Medical facilities, including hospitals.
    4. Mental Health Care facilities and substance abuse treatment facilities
    5. Event venues, theaters, etc.
  4. Banning specific weapons, including:
    1. So-called “assault weapons”
    2. Large capacity magazines.
    3. So-called “ghost guns”
    4. Trigger activators such as bump stocks.
    5. Certain ammunition, such as 50-caliber, or armor piercing.
  5. Purchase and transfer of weapons, including:
    1. Setting a minimum age of 21 for all weapons and establishing a waiting period of 3-10 days.
  6. Regulating gun dealers with such things as (but not all inclusive):
    1. Extensive on-site security including video surveillance, steel bars, locked up firearms, behind counter storage of all guns, among other things.
    2. Prohibiting the display of firearms and ammunition in windows.
    3. Increasing standards for all employees.
    4. Periodic inventory reporting.
    5. Required reporting of certain sales.
    6. Required signage on gun violence issues.
    7. Prohibiting retail in residential neighborhoods.
    8. Reporting of stolen firearms within 48 hours.

As the meeting began, Edgewater Mayor John Beltrone was clearly surprised by the number of people who had filled the council chambers both in person and online. Dozens were there to provide public comment. Mayor Beltrone emphasized again and again that nothing was going to be voted on during the meeting, that it was all just discussion, as if we aren’t hip as to where these ordinances begin.

For 3 1/2 hours the council went through the list line by line, with each item they allowed a representative from Ceasefire to “explain” what it was and why it was needed. The information given by Ceasefire was so warped and inaccurate that several people corrected her during public comment. This so-called expert insisted 50 cal ammo was used by civilians to shoot airplanes out of the sky! Dead serious.

The city attorney then addressed the legal issues with each item, most of which he made clear the Supreme Court has yet to make rulings on, so pursuing them would undoubtedly mean the city would find it’s self embroiled in lawsuits.

There was a lot of confusion among council members and the city attorney about things like what a “ghost gun” actually is, let alone any knowledge about the current laws surrounding private gun making and non-serialized firearms. In fact, most of the items on the list they lacked knowledge of current  law. This was glaringly obvious when they decided to pursue 6.8 on the list – requiring gun stores to report stolen guns to law enforcement within 48 hours. This is already a Federal Law.

During the public comment period, dozens of people spoke in opposition to their gun control list, some discussing how they had moved out of Denver to Edgewater so they had the ability to defend their families, unlike Denver who continues to restrict the right to self defense further and further. Two people spoke in support of Edgewater’s proposed measures.

By the end of the meeting, most of the list was scrapped with a decision to move forward with yet another work session to discuss the following: Item 2 – banning concealed carry on city property; Item 3.2 banning concealed carry in daycare and preschools; Item 4.3 banning ghost guns; and Item 6.8 requiring gun stores to report lost or stolen guns within 48 hours. They promised next time to bring in some experts from “both sides”. We’ll see if they follow up on this, but we’ve reached out to help facilitate it.

At the time of this writing, Edgewater has not set a date for the next work session. We’ll keep you updated.

Thank you to everyone who spoke up. Gun control is like a cancer that will spread if we aren’t diligent every time it tries to rear it’s ugly head. You may not live in Edgewater, but your community is watching – and hopefully taking note that the people won’t be happy if they try to bring this to your town.

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BREAKING: Multiple Gun Control Bills Head To CO Governor’s Desk

Posted on by Lesley Hollywood

BREAKING: Multiple Gun Control Bills Head To CO Governor's Desk

It didn’t take long for gun control extremists in the Colorado State Legislature to gut the Second Amendment this year – 111 days to be exact. Three more gun control bills are now headed to Governor Jared Polis’ desk for final signature. This is on top of two other gun control bills he’s already signed this legislative session, which went into full swing Feb 16, 2021 and is expected to end no later than June 12, 2021.

Here’s what is heading to the governor

SB21-256 Local Regulation Of Firearms

• Repeals Colorado’s 2003 Firearm Preemption Law and replaces it with language that allows localities and municipalities to create their own firearm laws as long as they are MORE restrictive than state law.
• This bill would allow for any county or municipality to ban the possession, sale, or transfer of a firearm, ammunition or firearm accessory within their jurisdiction; and would allow any county, municipality, special district, or college campus to ban concealed carry. For reference there are 217 municipalities, 64 counties, 2,800 special districts, and 62 college campuses.
• Bill goes into effect upon Governor’s signature. With the passage of this bill, the Second Amendment fight will now move from the State Capitol in Denver to your backyard.

Contact Governor Jared Polis and ask he veto this very dangerous bill: governorpolis@state.co.us / (303) 866-2885

HB21-1298 Expand Firearm Background Check Requirements

• Adds 11 misdemeanors to the list of background check disqualifiers, prohibiting purchase and possession for 5 years from date of conviction. This bill does work retroactively so anyone who has been convicted of one of these 11 misdemeanors in the past five years will now be prohibited persons.
• Removes the option for FFLs to transfer a firearm to new owner if background check is formally delayed for more than 3 days.
• Extends the time agencies have to review a background check denial from 30 days to 60 days, and allows for indefinite denial without disposition in certain instances.
• Bill goes into effect upon Governor’s signature.

Contact Governor Jared Polis and ask he veto this bill: governorpolis@state.co.us / (303) 866-2885

HB21-1299 Office Of Gun Violence Prevention

• Creates a new entity within Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDHPE) called the Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
• This office will be asked to “…increase the awareness of, and educate the general public about, state and federal laws and existing resources relating to gun-violence prevention.” That includes how to safely store guns, how to report a lost or stolen weapon, how to access mental health care and how to utilize Colorado’s Red Flag Law. They will also be tasked with so-called “evidence based” data collection.
• The office will be responsible for distributing grants to non-profit agencies and groups who will work within communities to implement “evidence based” gun safety action based on their “evidence based” data collection.
• Democrats rejected amendments that would have prevented these grants from going to groups who involve themselves in electoral politics, such as Moms Demand Action, because taxpayers should not be funding their push to elect so-called “Gun Sense Candidates”.
• The office will also track and publish what local firearm laws are in place across the state, as they assumed SB21-256 would pass when writing this bill. They are requesting $3 million dollars for fiscal year 2021-2022. 

Contact Governor Jared Polis and ask he veto this bill: governorpolis@state.co.us / (303) 866-2885

Here’s what’s already been signed

HB21-1106 Mandatory Safe Storage of Firearms

• Requires firearms be “safely stored” in homes where children or prohibited persons could gain access. 
• Exceptions are if the firearm is being carried on body or within such close proximity it is readily available as if it was being carried on body.
• Acceptable safe storage techniques include trigger locks, gun safes, bio-metric triggers, or a container that appears locked (yes, it really says that).
• Failure to comply is a Class 2 misdemeanor.
• Law takes effect July 1, 2021.

 

SB21-078 Mandatory Reporting of Lost and Stolen Guns

• Requires a person who discovers a firearm lost or stolen to report it to law enforcement within 5 days.
• Failure to comply is a $25 civil infraction.
• Bill was amended to give immunity to anyone who violated the safe storage law and had their firearm lost or stolen.
• Law goes into effect 90 days after adjournment of 2021 Colorado General Assembly (sometime in September 2021).

What can you do now?  Become a watchdog in your own community.  Pay attention to your county commissioners, city/town council, local colleges and universities, and so on. Alert us if anything comes on your radar. If you’re interested in organizing within college campuses, please also reach out. That fight is going to be immediate.

 

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Fast Tracked Gun Control Bills In Colorado Make FIVE For 2021 Legislative Session

Posted on by Lesley Hollywood

Want the Tl;dr version of the three gun control bills Colorado just introduced? Scroll down to below the graph.

Colorado tends to fly fairly under the radar when it comes to national chatter about gun control. A very libertarian state where guns and weed are common topics of conversation, the last time a major push for gun control took place was in 2013 when expanded background checks and a ban on so-called high capacity magazines passed.  That legislation triggered a recall effort that unseated three Democrat legislators and flipped the majority to Republican control in the 2014 general election.

Since that time the only major piece of gun control legislation that has ended up with the governor’s signature was the passage of a Red Flag Extreme Risk Protection Order law in 2019 after similar legislation failed the year prior.  The 2020 legislative session was a total meltdown due to COVID and the blessing out of that was gun control was dropped from the agenda. Enter 2021 and the gun control extremists are more motivated than ever to pass more ineffective laws that will do nothing to reduce firearm crime and suicide.  Note the chart below shows exactly how the laws Colorado has already passed have had the exact opposite effect than promised. The longer they continue to misdiagnose and mistreat this problem, the longer it will persist.

Already in the first 60 days of the 2021 legislative session, the governor has signed two pieces of gun control: SB21-078 Mandatory Reporting of Lost and Stolen Firearms, and HB21-1106 Mandatory Safe Storage of Firearms. Both of these bills are so poorly written it’s glaringly obvious no one who knows anything about guns even helped to write them as they are full of loopholes. And now, on the tail of the Boulder King Soopers shooting, virtue signaling Democrats have wasted no time exploiting the horrific murders of innocent people by pushing for new laws that they even admit would have done nothing to stop the shooter, but without a doubt make sure it’s harder for law abiding citizens to protect themselves from the evil we continue to face.

Three Gun Control Bills Introduced

On April 29, 2021 a package of three gun control bills were introduced. These bills are being fast tracked, going from committee to debate in the House Chamber on the same day.  Ideas so “good” they have to try to hide to proceedings from the public. Here’s the run down of each:

HB21-1298 Expand Firearm Transfer Background Check Requirements

The 2013 background check law already extended the current federal background check requirements to private sales and transfers as well as expanded prohibition to include mental health disqualifiers, dating partners who commit domestic violence, and more.  To purchase a firearm in Colorado, the buyer must pass both a NICS background check and a CBI background check.

This new bill would expand upon that even more to include what they consider “Violent Misdemeanors”, with those convicted becoming a prohibited person for 5 years.  Of course they always have to go big and include simple harassment (say you caught someone sleeping with your wife and you yelled at them – that’s harassment in Colorado) with more heinous crimes like sexual assault and child abuse. But here’s the kicker – of the list of new 11 qualifying misdemeanors, all but two are a Misdemeanor 3. Why does this matter?  Because when form 4473 is completed to submit to a background check, question 21(c) is asked: “Have you ever been convicted in any court, including a military court, of a felony, or any other crime for which the judge could have imprisoned you for more than one year, even if you received a shorter sentence including probation?” A yes answer on this question is an automatic disqualifier. And both Misdemeanors 1 and 2 carry a maximum penalty of 12 month or more in prison. Misdemeanor 3 carries a maximum of 6 months.

For all my researchers, here are the crimes they are adding, followed by their Colorado Revised Statute (C.R.S.) number, and what level misdemeanor they fall into:

• Assault Third Degree: 18-3-204 – M1
• Menacing: 18-3-206 – M3
• Sexual Assault: 18-3-402 (1)(e) – M1
• Child Abuse: 18-6-401 – M1 7a(V); M2 7b(VI); M2 7b(I); M3 7b(II)
• Violation of Protection Order: 18-6-803.5 – M2 with no prior violations, M1 with prior violations
• Crime Against At Risk Person: 18-6.5-103 – M1
• Harassment: 18-9-111 (1)(a) – M3; M1 if pursuant to 18-9-121(5)(a)&(b)
• Bias Motivated Crime: 18-9-121 – M1
• Cruelty to Animals: 18-9-202 – M1
• Possession of an Illegal Weapon: 18-12-102 – M1
• Unlawfully providing a firearm, other than a handgun, to a juvenile: 18-12-108.7 (3) – M1

This is the only law they claim would have stopped the Boulder shooter, as he bought his firearm legally several days before committing his massacre AND two years prior had been convicted of Third Degree Assault, a M1 that carried up to 18 months in prison. But as I previously mentioned…wouldn’t he already be prohibited based on question 21(c) of his 4473? Why isn’t the Boulder County DA charging him with lying on that form? But it also points to another issue that is never addressed – these background checks systems are only as good as the data put into them.

HB21-1298 also closes what the gun control extremists like to call “The Charleston Loophole”.  This so-called loophole allows a FFL to transfer the firearm to the new owner without a background check if the background check is formally delayed for more than 3 days. First, they love to call it the Charleston Loophole so they can exploit more tragedy and ignore the fact the police and FBI knew the Charleston Church Shooter had obtained a firearm when he was prohibited and they did absolutely nothing about it. 6 months later it was used to take lives of innocent people. But giving those same agencies more authority is supposed to fix the problem. And second, FFLs in Colorado don’t transfer guns to those who don’t pass background checks. Call around and ask. There is no shortage of customers who will pass background checks to buy that gun. Additionally, this bill extends the time agencies have to review a background check denial from 30 days to 60 days, and allows for indefinite denial without disposition in certain instances.

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR STATE HOUSE REPS AND TELL THEM TO VOTE NO ON THIS BILL! 

If you would like to go a step further and email every member of the Colorado House of Representatives (like the gun grabbers do), we’ve divided them up so you can easily send three emails by clicking the links below and connect with every House Rep across the state. Remember, this includes every State House Rep and some are on your side, but they still need to hear from you so they know how strong the opposition is to these bills!

OPPOSE HB21-1298: (even more) Expanded Firearm Background Checks

CLICK HERE TO EMAIL LAWMAKER GROUP #1
CLICK HERE TO EMAIL LAWMAKER GROUP #2
CLICK HERE TO EMAIL LAWMAKER GROUP #3

 

HB21-1299 Office Of Gun Violence Prevention

This bill creates a new entity within Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDHPE) called the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Yes, these are the same unelected bureaucrats who have handled COVID in Colorado for the past year. This new entity would have a director and at minimum two full time employees. The responsibilities of this office will be to “…increase the awareness of, and educate the general public about, state and federal laws and existing resources relating to gun-violence prevention.” That includes how to safely store guns, how to report a lost or stolen weapon, how to access mental health care and how to utilize Colorado’s Red Flag Law. This would be done via campaigns using television, radio, internet, direct mail, etc.  The office will also be tasked with collecting “evidence based” gun violence data and providing grants to those wishing to promote gun safety in the community – but again, only those with “evidence based” solutions.  The office will also track and publish what local firearm laws are in place across the state, as they assume SB21-256 will pass (read below about this atrocious bill). They are requesting $3 million dollars for fiscal year 2021-2022.

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR STATE HOUSE REPS AND TELL THEM TO VOTE NO ON THIS BILL! 

If you would like to go a step further and email every member of the Colorado House of Representatives (like the gun grabbers do), we’ve divided them up so you can easily send three emails by clicking the links below and connect with every House Rep across the state. Remember, this includes every State House Rep and some are on your side, but they still need to hear from you so they know how strong the opposition is to these bills!

OPPOSE HB21-1299:  Creates Office of Gun Violence

CLICK HERE TO EMAIL LAWMAKER GROUP #1
CLICK HERE TO EMAIL LAWMAKER GROUP #2
CLICK HERE TO EMAIL LAWMAKER GROUP #3

A few other states have similar offices of gun violence prevention. Three of the most prominent such efforts are New York City Office of Gun Violence Prevention, Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence, and Illinois Gun Violence Prevention Coalition.

What have been the results?

New York City: Since the creation of the New York City Office of Gun Violence Prevention, the city has gone from being one of the safest urban centers in the country to a return of the Death Wish years. In 2020, shootings increased 97% percent and homicides 44%

Maryland: Baltimore remains one of the most dangerous cities in America. In 2020, compared to Denver which documented 60 gun homicides, Baltimore recorded 298. More people in Baltimore were murdered with guns than in the entire state of Colorado.

Illinois: In 2020, Chicago documented 719 gun homicides, an increase of 55% from 2019. Chicago is the murder capital of the US.

SB21-256 Local Regulation Of Firearms

This bill would essentially repeal and replace the Firearm Preemption Law that has been a cornerstone of gun rights here in Colorado since 2003.  It’s what got Boulder’s assault weapon ban overturned – although even the sponsors of this bill have said their ban wouldn’t have stopped the Boulder shooter (and newsflash for them, bans don’t stop murderers). Currently localities and municipalities are barred from creating their own gun laws that are more strict (or less strict) than what is current state law.  This is because it is unreasonable to expect firearm owners to know hundreds of different laws as they travel over imaginary county and city lines across Colorado, and anything otherwise would create a whole new class of innocent criminals.

SB21-256 repeals that and replaces it with language allowing localities and municipalities to create their own gun laws  BUT only if they are more strict than current state law, “…local government may enact an ordinance, regulation, or other law governing or prohibiting the sale, purchase, transfer or possession of a firearm, ammunition, or firearm component or accessory that a person may lawfully sell, purchase, transfer, or possess under state or federal law.”

It also gives counties, municipalities, special districts and colleges the ability for their governing bodies to prohibit conceal carry, “…a local government, including a special district, or the governing board of an institution of higher education many enact an ordinance, resolution, rule, or other regulation that prohibits a permittee from carrying a concealed handgun in a building or specific area within the local government’s or governing board’s jurisdiction.”

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR STATE HOUSE REPS AND TELL THEM TO VOTE NO ON THIS BILL! 

If you would like to go a step further and email every member of the Colorado State Senate (like the gun grabbers do), we’ve provided a link below. By clicking the link below you can connect with every State Senator across the Colorado. Remember, this includes every State Senator and some are on your side, but they still need to hear from you so they know how strong the opposition is to these bills!

OPPOSE SB21-256: Local Regulation of Firearms

CLICK HERE TO EMAIL EVERY STATE SENATOR

 

Two other bills we were expecting to see seem to have received the ax this year. Those would be an Assault Weapons Ban and Mandatory Waiting Periods.  You can follow all Colorado gun bills as they make their way through both the house and senate chambers on our Legislative Watch page.

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CO Gun Bills Expose Glaring Assault On Victims Rights After Floor Debate Amendments Fail

Posted on by Lesley Hollywood

CO Gun Bills Expose Glaring Assault On Victims Rights After Floor Debate Amendments Fail

 

This past week, two Colorado gun control bills have been rapidly making their way through the state legislature. While HB21-1106: Mandatory Safe Storage of Firearms originated in the house, SB21-078: Mandatory Reporting of Lost and Stolen Guns was introduced in the senate, both on Feb 16, 2021. This was undoubtedly a strategic move to keep gun rights activists chasing the zig zag between the two chambers. It culminated Tuesday morning when Lost and Stolen Guns was being heard in the senate, while Safe Storage was on third reading in the house. Both passed their respective hearings. Safe Storage will move on to the State Senate where the process will begin again and it must pass before landing on the governor’s desk, and Lost and Stolen guns will be heard for it’s final vote in the senate Wednesday morning before moving on to the State House of Representatives.

Confused yet?  Yeah…that was intentional on their part. Long story short, both bills continue to move forward – and fast.

Debate on Mandatory Safe Storage on the house floor went for nearly 10 hours with 27 amendments being offered by Republicans, all but one amendment was voted down. You can watch the debate here and part 2 here. Debate on Mandatory Reporting of Lost and Stolen Guns went relatively fast, lasting about an hour, with three amendments being offered, all rejected. You can watch that one here.

One thing became glaringly obvious while watching debate on these bills coupled with the rejection of amendment after amendment: gun owners lives do not matter to the gun grabbing Democrats down at the state capitol. The vote was along party lines with one Democrat joining Republicans in their efforts.

The Assault On Victim’s Rights

During both the debate on Safe Storage as well as Lost and Stolen Guns, amendments were put forth to protect victims of crime.

The following amendments were struck down by Democrats:

Amendment L-054 would have made it impossible for a person to be charged with the qualifying Class 2 Misdemeanor if the discovery of an unlocked firearm happened during a lawful entrance into a person’s home, such as during the commission of a crime against the person. For example: a woman is the victim of domestic violence in her own home, and police arrive at the scene. Upon entering the home they find a handgun on the kitchen table which had been used in her assault. There is a one year old toddler in the home. This domestic violence victim is now a criminal for not keeping the firearm locked up even if not at her own hands. This amendment was rejected along party lines.

Another amendment would have exempted persons from Safe Storage requirements who have active restraining orders against another person because they are in imminent danger.  Struck down by Democrats. If you are in such imminent danger even the courts agree, too bad, keep that gun locked up and inaccessible, call the police, that’s their solution.

And yet another amendment would have exempted gun owners in the event a juvenile trespasses onto their property and steals a firearm. Doesn’t matter. If you live alone with your cat and never have another person in your home, YOU will be held responsible for the crime another person commits in breaking into your home and stealing your property, and be slapped with a Class 2 Misdemeanor for not locking up your guns.

During the Lost and Stolen Guns debate three amendments were presented.  These amendments stated that if the firearm was stolen during an incident in which the person or a member of the persons immediate family was a victim of homicide (amendment 1), or a victim of kidnapping (amendment 2), or a victim of sexual assault (amendment 3) they would be exempt from the 5 day day reporting requirement. This is because rational people understand that when such trauma happens, reporting a gun lost or stolen is unlikely at the top of their priority list and during times of grief and/or processing the trauma, this can easily be overlooked or even create more trauma for the victim. All three of these amendments failed.

Yet another amendment offered and rejected would have given a gun owner or their family an avenue to sue the state if one is injured or killed while being unable to protect themselves due to the requirement to keep their guns “safely stored” where they are much more inaccessible should the need for self defense arise.  Funny the same party who preaches putting an end to qualified immunity would reject such a measure.

Last but not least, three amendments were presented that would have provided 7 days (amendment 1), then 3 days (amendment 2), and finally 24 hours (amendment 3) to come into compliance if found to be in violation of this new law that has no funding for the educational campaign. Those not paying attention are expected to “just know”.

They Also Reject Gun Owners Being Involved In Educational Campaign Development

An amendment was voted down that would have required the development of the Safe Storage educational campaign to include consultation with the Division of Criminal Justice and Public Safety, non-profit organizations that provide firearms safety education and training, members of the firearm industry, including manufacturers, dealers and importers, along with other experts in firearm safety. Because to them, it makes no sense to have stakeholders at the table who will actually be affected by this law and understand how to connect with gun owners.

Another amendment would have added a requirement that all 7th graders complete a firearms safety course, something that would help immensely with accidental shootings.

Exempting law enforcement officers, veterans, active duty military, and similar from Safe Storage was another amendment killed.

This was followed by an amendment that would have given some teeth to the Second Amendment Sanctuary counties who tend to be immune to many of the firearm crime issues that plague more urban areas such as school shootings and gun theft.

One Amendment Did Pass

The one amendment that DID pass will require information about organizations such as Hold My Guns and other community programs that allow firearm owners to voluntarily and temporarily store firearms at a secure location outside of the home in times of crisis be part of the unfunded educational campaign.

You can follow these bills and others, find legislator contact info, and even sign up to provide public comment at our Legislative Watch page.

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The Problem With “Mandatory Reporting Of Lost & Stolen Guns” Laws

Posted on by Lesley Hollywood

The Problem With "Mandatory Reporting Of Lost & Stolen Guns" Laws : Rally for our Rights Colorado

As gun control extremists rally activists and politicians alike to push their agenda, it’s always clear which bills are part of a larger gun control agenda because they pop up in every state. Mandatory Reporting of Lost and Stolen Firearms is one of them, which has been introduced here in Colorado this legislative session.

SB21-078 sounds so benign it gets little opposition and even gun owners regularly say they don’t see an issue with it. I’ve never met a gun owner who took issue with reporting stolen guns to the police, and honestly, they really don’t “lose” them at all (boating accidents aside, of course).

But in reality, there are some glaring problems with such a law.

This particular bill makes it a petty offense with a fine of $25 if you don’t report a stolen or lost firearm to police within 5 days and any subsequent non-reporting offenses are a class 2 misdemeanor. The person reporting the theft or loss must provide the following info: the manufacturer, model, serial number, caliber, and any other identification number of distinguishing marks. From there, within 5 days, law enforcement must add the firearm information into CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigations) and NCIC (National Crime Information Center – FBI) as directed. Even this wreaks eerily of a back door registry.

Here’s the thing, legal gun owners already report firearm theft voluntarily, even providing all the identifying information if they have it. And law enforcement typically gets the firearm information to the CBI who then adds it to NCIC within 24-48 hours, not even the 5 days the bill requires, but less. The issue doesn’t lie in the reporting, the issue lies in the recovery of the firearms. Law enforcement rarely tries to actively recover firearms, instead they wait to find them in the commission of another crime. Why not tackle this instead?  It would likely be supported by gun owners who want their firearms back (and definitely do not want them used to cause harm) and gun control advocates who claim to want to reduce “gun violence” alike, and would do far more to stop crimes committed with firearms and truly make our streets safer.

You know who won’t report their guns lost or stolen? People who are already prohibited from owning them, the same people who don’t report them now. This law won’t change that. It will honestly change little, if anything at all, when it comes to reporting.

What I actually find most concerning about this bill is the coupling of it with Mandatory Safe Storage of Firearms, which was introduced the same day and is already making it’s way quickly through the state house. When you report a gun stolen, will the next question be why you didn’t have it locked up? The penalty for not reporting the firearm stolen is a petty offense of $25. Not properly storing a firearm securely is a class 2 misdemeanor. In reporting a gun stolen, will gun owners be incriminating themselves of another crime? And would this actually deter gun owners from reporting their guns stolen? In this scenario with both bills becoming law, does the Lost and Stolen Firearms bill actually violate the Fifth Amendment, the right to remain silent? The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution protects a person from being compelled to incriminate oneself and is a bedrock of our justice system.

Lastly, let’s do a little study of our own by looking at two states in 2020, New York and California, which have very strict “common-sense” gun laws to include Mandatory Loss and Theft Reporting. In New York City, shootings are up 97%, homicide up 44%. In California, in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno, Oakland, historic levels of gang shootings and gun homicides. So why aren’t these “common-sense” gun laws working?

All that aside, this bill threatens to criminalize victims and the state has no authority over the private property we own.

Follow our Legislative Watch page for more information about this and other firearm related bills, including when and how to provide public comment, who to contact, and when and where to watch the debate and votes.

 

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