May

7

CO Legislature went out sine die on 05-06-08

May 7, 2008 |  Tagged , , , , |

Everyone’s life, liberty, and property are a little safer today. The Legislature adjourned last night. Unless the Governor calls a special session, both houses won’t be back until next year. Senator Gordon, Senator Wendels, and Senator Tupa are leaving. They will not be missed by this writer, since they all sponsored anti-Second Amendment legislation and consistently voted against an individual right to defense against crime and tyranny.

This was an election year, not a good time to stir up Second Amendment advocates. If the Democrats win big this fall, next year will be a bad time for the rights of gun owners.

The loss of Senators Ward and Hagadorn will be felt by proponents of freedom in Colorado. Senators Weins and McElhany will also be missed. Representative Ray Rose is leaving the House, another sad loss for the friends of freedom.

We knew that this would be a dangerous year in the legislature, because of the Democrat majority in both houses and an anti-gun rights Governor. On balance, we did not have a bad session. The majority party, probably mindful of previous painful experiences with gun control, did not push an expected semi-automatic weapons ban or a ban on .50 caliber weapons.

Several good gun bills were killed. Among them:
HB 1066 (Gardner, C., and Harvey) This bill would have protected persons using legal deadly force against intruders in a business setting.

SB 115(Brophy and Stephens) This bill would have permitted a lawsuit in the case of an honest citizen who was injured or killed as the result of criminal activity in a “gun free” zone, i.e., a “criminal safe free fire zone,” where concealed carry was not allowed.

Several significant anti-gun/anti-hunting bills were killed through the lobbying efforts of pro-gun rights groups, notably the Firearms Coalition of Colorado. This organization has the only full-time Second Amendment lobbyist at the State Capitol.

Bad bills, which were killed, include:
HB 1096 (Stafford) This bill would have banned hunting in “enclosed” areas, even if the fenced area were hundreds or thousands of acres.

HB 1190 (Kerr, J., and Taylor) This bill concerning CBI background check hours at gun shows was pulled by the sponsor, when it became apparent that the Democrat majority might hijack the bill and use it to kill gun shows in Colorado.

SB 49 (Wendels) This “safe storage” bill would have made you liable if a 16-17 year-old teenager stole and misused your “unsecured” weapon. I believe bills like this are used by anti-gun politicians to reduce the value of firearms for self-defense, thereby making some gun owners more likely to give up their guns.

One bill that everyone pretty much agreed on was HB 1200 (Soper and Tochtrop). This bill banned computer assisted remote hunting in Colorado. Remote hunting would have allowed someone at a computer terminal in Guam to shoot an animal in this state by pushing a key or clicking a mouse.

For me, the above bills were the most significant ones of the session. Hats off to the GOP Legislators who helped to preserve our rights and to Democrat Senators Tochtrop, Hagadorn, Isgar, and Tapia who supported their constituents’
rights across party lines.

Def Mech


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