On April 28, Colorado’s governor signed four gun control bills, adding to the list of Democrat-led states pushing for more gun control despite last year’s ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court expanding Second Amendment rights.
“Coloradoans deserve to be safe in our communities, in our schools, in our grocery stores, in our nightclubs,” Gov. Jared Polis said at a signing ceremony at his office, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The new laws:
- impose a three-day waiting period between buying and receiving a firearm
- raise the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21
- expand red flag laws to allow medical, mental health providers, educators and district attorneys to petition a court to have an individual’s firearms taken (previously only a family member of law enforcement officer could)
- repeal a state law limiting civil lawsuits against firearm and ammunition manufacturers whose product may have been used in the commission of a crime
Immediately following the signing, constitutional rights advocacy groups filed lawsuits over what they say are unconstitutional laws passed by Colorado.
“Gun control extremists think thy can play fast and loose with our constitutionally protected freedoms because of their large majorities, but as we have promised, we will not let that happen,” Dudley Brown, President of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, said in a press release.
“The idea that an 18-year-old can vote, serve on a jury that could send someone to jail for life, sign contracts, own property, and even be drafted into our nation’s military, but not be able to purchase a basic hunting rifle is asinine,” he added. “Regardless of age, sex, race, religion, or creed, rights are rights and can’t be cherry-picked by bigoted politicians.”
Other states that have raised the minimum firearm purchase age to 21 include California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, New York, and Rhode Island.
Democrats hailed the bills passage as a major win in their battle to try and curb gun violence.
“If I hear one more time, ‘It’s not the gun, it’s the person’ but then you don’t support this law, then maybe you don’t really mean it,” said Democratic Rep. Jennifer Bacon, as reported by the Colorado Sun. “Because that’s what we’re addressing here.”
The Sun also quoted Rep. Meg Froelich as saying, “Our waiting periods bill puts distance between emotional distress and access to a firearm.”
