Legislators hear from both sides on firearms safety
Two of three firearms safety bills got initial hearings in state House committees in the past week.
House Bill 1298 is in part a response to the shooting at the south Boulder King Soopers on March 22. The Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee approved the bill May 5 on a 7-4 party-line vote.
The bill is a comprehensive approach to several issues tied to background checks. It has three components. The first is to bar anyone convicted of a violent misdemeanor from purchasing a gun for five years after the conviction, and that is retroactive, meaning once the bill becomes law, it would apply to those convicted in the past five years.
Had the change contained in HB 1298 been in place, the alleged shooter at the Boulder King Soopers would have been denied a weapon because he had a prior misdemeanor conviction from three years ago for third-degree assault, according to witnesses.
HB 1298’s second section closes what’s known as the Charleston loophole. That refers to a 2015 shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine parishioners of the African-American church were murdered.
The shooter purchased a gun, but the background check failed to come in within the three days allotted under South Carolina law, so the dealer had to transfer the weapon to the shooter. However, had the background check come in on time, it would have revealed a prior drug conviction that would have barred the shooter from purchasing a weapon. Colorado has that same law.
The third provision under HB 1298 grants the Colorado Bureau of Investigation more time to conduct appeals for denials of firearms transfers.
Testimony came from those impacted by gun violence and those who advocate for Second Amendment rights.
Bill sponsor Rep. Judy Amabile, a Boulder Democrat, told the House Judiciary Committee that her district includes the King Soopers. After reading off the names of the 10 victims of the shooting, she said their fate was sealed, not on the day of the shooting, but six days before when the shooter passed a background check and purchased the gun.
Rep. Terri Carver, a Colorado Springs Republican, who pointed out that some of the misdemeanors listed in the bill, such as harassment, cruelty to animals and crimes against at-risk persons would not necessarily constitute a violent crime. In such situations, the misdemeanor could be neglect rather than violence, she said.
The second bill, House Bill 1299, won an 8-5 party-line approval from the House Public & Behavioral Health and Human Services Committee on May 7. That measure sets up the Office of Gun Violence Prevention within the Department of Public Health and Environment and would establish a resource center for data, research and statistical information on gun violence in Colorado; conduct an education campaign; and provide grants for community-based gun violence intervention.
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