Colorado’s Republican congressional delegation is urging Governor Jared Polis to veto recent legislation that forces residents who wish to exercise their Second Amendment rights to submit to a training program and an illegal gun owner registry. Senate Bill 003 was introduced to ban the sale of all semi-automatic magazine-fed firearms. Those plans changed quickly when it became apparent that Polis was uncomfortable with such a sweeping ban. More accurately, the governor was worried about recall petitions and voter backlash as experienced during the state’s 2013 gun control debacle.
A spokeswoman for the governor tried to absolve him of responsibility and appeal to Constitutionally-minded Americans by pointing out that the bill’s revision wouldn’t include any bans on firearms, carving a path by which residents may continue to exercise their rights so long as they participate in the licensing and registry scam. Polis’ office also put Republicans on notice, presenting SB 003 as veiled negotiation leverage to prevent Medicaid cuts and provide support for his opposition to President Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
“We appreciate hearing from members of Congress, and this goes both ways… For example, the governor strongly requests that they don’t make devastating cuts to Medicaid that will throw Coloradans off of health care and raise costs for everyone, and that they stop the president’s tariff tax hike – one of the largest in history — which is raising costs on Coloradans and businesses across the state,” said the governor’s press secretary, Shelby Wieman.
I hope people can see the forest through the bureaucratic trees here. Governor Polis’ office ultimately telling Americans that he is willing to spend their tax dollars to compromise their civil rights so that he can then use the suppression of those rights as a bargaining chip to get something else he wants, which will, of course, also come at an expense to the taxpayer. Furthermore, offering consolation prizes like unlawful licensing and registry scams in the place of an illegal ban is about as smarmy and villainous as it gets. Tell me you’re a criminal scumbag without telling me you’re a criminal scumbag.
Efforts urging Polis to, at least, pretend to be American, were organized by Representative Jeff Crank, and signed by fellow Republicans Lauren Boebert, Gabe Evans, and Jeff Hurd in a letter pointing out to the governor that the changes made to the bill do not make it any more appealing or any less of an infringement on the right to bear arms.
“Colorado has a proud history of safeguarding its citizens’ constitutional right to bear arms. Yet, for the past decade, the Colorado State Legislature has relentlessly pursued ever-increasing restrictions on responsible gun owners. If you fail to take a firm stance against these radical attempts to undermine our rights, you will only serve to empower criminals at the expense of law-abiding citizens,” the letter reads.
The letter also clarifies that SB 003 is inconsistent with United States Supreme Court rulings in Heller and Bruen, which protect firearms in common use and set guidelines for historical analysis as a basis for regulation and restriction.
“The Constitution is unequivocal: law-abiding citizens have the right to keep and bear arms, and this right cannot be violated. In District of Columbia v. Heller, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that firearms in “common use” are protected under the Second Amendment, and in NYSRPA v. Bruen, the Court reaffirmed that gun restrictions must be “rooted in historical tradition” and cannot rely on subjective, discretionary standards,” the letter continues.
In fact, SB 003 was so egregious in its original form, that even the amended abomination places Coloradans in the company of some of the worst Second Amendment offenders in the United States.
“Despite making some amendments to the legislation to appear less restrictive, the Colorado State Legislature proceeded with a partisan vote to pass one of the most restrictive gun ownership laws in the United States – on par with California and Illinois’ gun laws,” Republicans stated.
Diving deeper into the dumpster fire, the bill is set to make local sheriffs the arbiters of who is afforded their Constitutional rights and who isn’t, with the ability to block anyone residing in their county from being able to purchase a gun
“Not only does this new scheme come with additional fees and time commitments that no criminal will ever participate in, but it also gives any sheriff hostile to the individual — or semi-automatic firearms in general — carte blanche authority to block the enrollment,” says the letter.
Lawmakers hit the nail right on the head when they point out that criminals, the ones Democrats claim they are trying to stop, don’t shelve their violent ways over gun control. They are criminals, and by definition, do not abide by the law. Those willing to commit murder find gun laws as an obstacle an astoundingly hilarious notion, but the left thrives on the idea that Americans are stupid.
“The reality is that the Governor is focused on improving public safety… The governor was clear he would oppose banning any guns, and his team worked with the sponsors, and got feedback from the hunting and sport shooting community, and members of law enforcement to amend the bill to address the overarching concerns, remove any bans on guns, and ensure people could continue to purchase the gun of their choice. The final bill allows responsible Coloradans to continue to purchase the gun of their choice as long as they receive gun safety education.” Wieman spouted.
Okay, but this has nothing to do with criminal behavior even though the bill’s supporters continue to argue it would help prevent violence because semiautomatic weapons with detachable magazines have been a common denominator in mass shootings. But the most commonly owned firearms are semiautomatic weapons with detachable magazines, so this is like regulating vehicles with four wheels because they are a common denominator in drunk driving accidents. Wait a second. We do have licenses and vehicle registration because it is not a Constitutionally protected right, but that doesn’t stop people from drunk driving. See my point?
Aside from infringing upon the Bill of Rights, opponents of the bill point out that the onslaught of Democrat-controlled anti-Second Amendment legislation in the state has done nothing to stop violent gun crime, and has only served to leave law-abiding Coloradans more vulnerable, creating barriers for self-preservation against criminals who ignore gun laws.
Are we as Americans really stupid enough to buy into Democrat lies and failed logic? They’ve found themselves enough useful idiots to toe the line this far, but it seems that more and more people are packing up the first chance they get and seeking out the promise of freedom and American values in states that diametrically oppose authoritarian strongholds like California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey to name a few. I am constantly encouraging friends to dump these states and let them be the soft targets for crime they strive to be while moving to conservative states and strengthening our voting pool and electoral status. Let them turn into another Venezuela for all I care, but if you’re one of those people going on about the nobility of remaining “behind enemy lines” to fight the tyranny, go ahead and tell me what you’ve done to cause any change in the comments below.
Slightly surprised there isn’t a provision in the bill requiring firearm owners to wear a yellow star when in public.
RE: “the Court reaffirmed that gun restrictions must be “rooted in historical tradition” and cannot rely on subjective, discretionary standards,” the letter continues”
99% of the above gun restrictions are Rooted in 100% Blatant Discrimination. A fact polite letter writing Gun Control butt kissers fail to tell dumbfuk hen pecked politicians. Until gutless wonders speak up it is a one way street in favor of Gun Control…an agenda Historical Analogies Confirm is Rooted in Racism and Genocide.
Forward any and all senseless replies to my attorney…
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZFEz3Bt9hCw&si=hK53nO0Xsh8o5-2M
Maybe it would be a good idea to not allow the race that’s 13% of the population but commits 55% of the murders to own guns.
yes with a yellow “R” next to it.
CO will be added to the list of states where I have to load my mags with gloves on when passing through.
I wonder if Jeff Hurd is related to Cat Hurd. She used to ride moto cross and was pretty good at it.
There was this blond girl in my MX class (C) I was soooo slow but I always looked for that pony tail and took many risks to finish in front of her. I am sure she beat me often. Ahh the 70s were a great time to be alive.
Yeah, that’ll work. /s
Might as well “urge” Polis to stop having b*tt s*x.
Are no comments being allowed to show up?
This site is such trash, now.
They are here now. Patience, Grasshopper.
A gay democrat/communist Jew vetoing a gun control bill? Never gonna happen.
Registration schemes/scams are illegal? Aside from the wisdom of such laws, there are multiple states that have them, and not one has been ruled illegal or unconstitutional. Why should Colorado’s proposed plan be treated any differently? Prove me wrong.
P.S.: the federal ban on registries does not apply to the states.
The federal ban on registries doesn’t much affect the Feds anyway, they just create them illegally and laugh about it when they get caught.
Heck, the ATF from time to time will even ask Congress for money to make their illegal registry more efficient.
I’d say the new administration might crack the whip on the FBI agents copying the NICS files before they hit the mandatory deletion time, but let’s be real here… that’s unlikely, at least for a while.
Surfacially true but how many have been challenged post Bruen? Pretty sure not one (mostly for lack of standing thus far here in NY) but the circuits involved do make it a tricky cost benefit analysis with all the other balls in the air.
The question is what Polis wants going forward, which is an open question.
If he wants to take a crack at being POTUS right after being governor, he vetos. If he wants to step up to the US Senate as a Senator from Colorado immediately, he dithers and lets it become law. Yeah, it’s a bit of a problem for him running for Senate but it’s not a millstone around his neck given the overall current conditions in the state (more below).
I’ll go out on a limb and say that I don’t see him actually signing this into law, 40% chance he lets it just become law.
One of the key bits here is this line, which I’m glad the author included:
“. More accurately, the governor was worried about recall petitions and voter backlash…”
The governor, whatever one might think of him, is actually a reasonably astute politician. He drove the Dems nuts with his Covid policies that were closer to Florida than they liked. He simultaneously drove them nuts by using the state’s rainy day fund to offer assistance to small businesses to keep them afloat during the lockdowns. Which is why Colorado bounced back as well as it did, best in the Rockies on a per capita basis, and a few others. IOW, he’s not afraid to buck the party in many cases, though he was a bit farther to the Left after reelection. That may be due to the fact that the Legislature lurched to the Left with 20% of the Legislature being unelected to their posts.
Polis is also well known for having quants go deep into the numbers on topics that matter politically and I’ve pointed out here before, that the excise tax on firearms, ammo etc (proposition KK) was an odd duck in the manner in which it passed. It did NOT pass on a straight party line vote. Secondarily, just the budget issues this bill creates with Parks and Wildlife may cause him to veto it. He kinda prides himself on being sane on fiscal policy as compared to most of his party.
Back to the data from the election: That data set showed two distinct oddities with regard to Prop KK. KK had higher support than Trump had and lower support than Kamala had. IOW, when you look at the data there were people voting for Kamala who were also voting No on KK in large numbers and people voting for Trump who were voting Yes on KK in large numbers.
The result was KK passing only because of a couple large counties, and it still only passed by 4.4%. When compared with other “bellweather” propositions, what you rapidly discover is that Colorado is going to be very “blue” on some things, like abortion, and not very blue on other things, like guns or school choice. School choice failed by a mere 0.7%.
Properly outreach targeting makes Colorado much more competitive than it is currently. That’s because only one side does any actual outreach at this point. This is one of the reasons I’m not a huge fan of RMGO, they preach to the choir and, IMHO, mostly want donations that I don’t think are spent properly, but that’s just MHO on that organization. Regardless, the outreach on numerous topics is not there and guns is one of them. Yet as KK showed, it’s far more competitive than you’d expect. A reversion to mean for Republicans makes it something like a 1.2-1.5% issue and just a touch of outreach to the Dems and KK would have failed. That’s actually a damn competitive topic.
And the simple fact is that state level leadership could be changed drastically with outreach on a few key issues that are highly competitive. Make those the issues and R’s will actually do fairly well. If they can actually manage to govern, heck in two cycles they could turn Colorado red again.
Hammering guns, taxes, roads, jobs and schools is a winning slate for R’s in Colorado. But it requires a level of institutional power to do the outreach that the ColoGOP doesn’t have because, mostly, it’s assumed that you’re trying to win over liberal wino cat moms and crazy street activists, which actually isn’t true. Those groups simply punch enormously above their weight class because they have the organization and the GOP doesn’t.
Taxes will be a major, major fight coming up with the Dems trying to get rid of TABOR. They’re way out over their skis on that one. If they GOP’s smart, they’ll make the Dems wear that and dance in public too. But… frankly, the GOP ain’t smart.
Never thought Colorado would go commie!