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Attempt to ban ‘assault weapons’ in Colorado fails for second consecutive year (copy) (copy)

By May 6, 2024 | updated 1 year ago

The bill attempting to ban the purchase of a long list of so-called assault weapons has failed for the second consecutive year.

House Bill 1292 was expected to be heard this week in the Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee, but its sponsor, Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, announced Monday that she would ask the committee to end it.

“I intend to request that the Senate State Veterans and Military Affairs committee postpone indefinitely House Bill 24-1292, the assault weapons ban, on May 7, 2024,” Gonzales said in a statement. “That being said, I couldn’t be prouder of my colleagues in the House of Representatives for passing an assault weapons ban for the first time in Colorado history.”

Gonzales added that “after thoughtful conversations with my Senate colleagues, I decided that more conversations need to take place outside of the pressure cooker of the Capitol during the last weeks of the legislative session. In that spirit, I look forward to renewing and continuing those discussions over the interim. It is clear that survivors of devastating gun violence, responsible gun owners, and local and national policy advocates remain committed to doing the work necessary to save lives — and an assault weapons ban will do just that.”

Progressive Democrats have tried for two years to ban a variety of weapons, with the common thread being anything detachable, which raised concerns that the law might apply to more than just assault weapons.

The 2023 version never made it out of its first committee hearing.

The list of weapons that could not be purchased in Colorado under HB 1292 included:

• A semiautomatic rifle that can accept a detachable magazine.

• AK- and AR-type weapons, either rifles or pistols, including AK47, AK47S, AK-74, Bushmasters, certain Remington and Smith & Wesson rifles; and others with detachable magazines.

• Semi-automatic rifles, pistols or shotguns that can accept or be modified to accept a fixed large-capacity magazine.

The bill won approval from the House on a 35-27 vote on April 14 but has since been waiting for its trip through the Senate ever, a sign that it might have struggled to get through the more moderate Senate.

The bill’s first stop in the Senate, the state affairs committee, is where it could have run into trouble, given the swing vote would likely be from Sen. Tom Sullivan, D-Centennial. While Sullivan has been a strong advocate for gun control, he has been skeptical about whether a ban would work.

The bigger obstacle for the measure, however, was likely from the governor, who had said he was skeptical that a ban would work, given that people could just drive across the border to Wyoming to purchase those weapons. He also advocated for a federal solution, one that he sponsored when he was in Congress.

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Marianne Goodland

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