Bastages

House Democrats voted to pass three gun bills late on Saturday night, including one that would require gun owners to obtain a liability insurance policy for their firearms.

The bills all drew criticism from Republicans, who claimed they would violate the Second Amendment, while supporters argued they would enhance public safety.

Here's a brief overview of each bill and some of the debate that took place during the final votes on Saturday.

Bill mandates firearms liability insurance

House Bill 1270 mandates that firearm owners must have liability insurance and requires insurance companies to offer firearm liability coverage in homeowners and renters insurance policies to cover injuries caused by accidental firearm discharge. The bill faces opposition not only from Republicans but also from some Democrats, with 12 of them voting against it, including representatives from rural areas and Colorado Springs.

"I am deeply concerned that this will be used as an advantage to do other insidious things," said Rep. Ron Weinberg, R-Loveland. "As legislators in this building, there's one thing we have to do: stop going down rabbit holes. Once we put one thing in order, there's many to follow. One of the greatest reasons this country exists as it does today is because of law and order and the Second Amendment, and if we start chipping away at any of those with small things such as this, we will find ourselves in a difficult spot."

The bill's supporters argued that it's no different from requiring liability insurance for other items that have the potential to cause harm, such as swimming pools and trampolines. They contended that insurance coverage would assist in offsetting the substantial medical expenses incurred by victims of accidental or unintentional firearm discharges.

The bill narrowly passed with a 33-29 vote, hinging on last-minute switches by Democratic Reps. Alex Valdez of Denver and Tisha Mauro of Pueblo from "no" to "yes."

The bill's future in the Senate is uncertain — it will either be assigned to the Business Affairs and Labor, State Affairs, or Judiciary committees. Democratic Senators Nick Hinrichsen of Denver, Tom Sullivan of Centennial, and Dylan Roberts of Frisco are likely to be the swing votes in each respective committee.

The bill is sponsored by Reps. Steven Woodrow, D-Denver, Iman Jodeh, D-Aurora, and Sen. Chris Hansen, D-Denver.

Measure mandates new dealer requirements

House Bill 1353 requires firearms dealers in Colorado to obtain a permit, adhere to sales regulations, provide annual employee training and report suspicious activities.

Under the proposal, violations may result in fines up to $250,000 and felony charges.

"Criminals don't use licensed dealers," said Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta. "Why? Because licensed dealers will not knowingly sell to a prohibited person. Because licensed dealers do not like criminals. Because licensed dealers are partners with the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) and law enforcement circles."

Bill sponsor Rep. Emily Sirota, D-Denver, argued that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, responsible for enforcing federal firearms licenses, is severely understaffed and argued for the need for state assistance in enforcing regulations to address the staffing shortfall.

The bill passed on a 40-21 vote, with Democrats Sheila Lieder of Littleton and Bob Marshall of Highlands Ranch in opposition, alongside their Republican colleagues.

The bill is also sponsored by Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, D-Fort Collins, and Sens. Jeff Bridges, D-Greenwood Village and Dafna Michaelson Jenet, D-Commerce City.

Legislation proposes new excise tax on guns, ammo

House Bill 1349 proposes an 11% excise tax on firearms and ammunitions sales, with several exemptions.

Revenue generated from the tax would be allocated to various funds, including support for crime victim services and shooting range safety programs. Because the vote proposes a new tax, it needs to be approved by the voters. If it passes through the legislature, it will appear on the November ballot.

Opponents of the bill say it places financial barriers on gun ownership, which Rep. Brandi Bradley, R-Littleton, called "the great equalizer" for women.

"I'm trying to understand why we would take away the greatest equalizer for women," she said. "Why wouldn't we give them every opportunity to have a gun and access them without financial restrictions? This bill will disproportionately affect people who cannot afford this extra tax and will not be able to defend themselves, and unfortunately crime and assault will continue to rise."

Rep. Lisa Frizell, R-Castle Rock, said she supports funding for victims' assistance programs but she does not believe an excise tax is the way to source that funding.

"This bill combined with other measures that have passed through this chamber in this session, I believe very strongly, is simply going to reduce the number of guns sold legally in the state of Colorado," she added.

The bill passed on a 44-18 vote, with Rep. Bob Marshall of Highlands Ranch being the only Democrat to vote in opposition. It is sponsored in the House by Majority Leader Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge, and Rep Meg Froelich, D-Englewood, and in the Senate by Sen. Chris Hansen, D-Denver and Janet Buckner, D-Aurora

https://www.coloradopolitics.c...0d-5fc908ce739d.html

Turds. Californias added 11% tax (on top all other taxes) goes into effect on 7/1. I’m hearing that it will be paid upon picking up the firearm or ammo.

And I heard there is a bill in the works that will require annual registration of each firearm owned, that includes a fee attached to each one.

No different than a swimming pool? Good. Because there is no requirement to have liability insurance on pools either.

CO has become an overflowing cesspool. It's not just gun rights. Wasn't Denver's idiot gay mayor recently diverting funding from fire and police for illegals?

let it get bad, really bad, then have a revolution

its what they want

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
let it get bad, really bad, then have a revolution

its what they want

Oh so true.

It seems inconceivable that it could be true in the USA, especially to those of use who grew up mid last century. There have always been a few whack jobs and egomaniacs, but never did it seem there was a large portion of the citizenry who despised the founding principles.

There have become too many safe spaces for the traitors to openly operate.

French Revolution American Style may be in our future.

quote:

House Democrats voted to pass three gun bills late on Saturday night, including one that would require gun owners to obtain a liability insurance policy for their firearms.

And what, I wonder, will be the process to go after the street thugs for ignoring getting liability insurance? How will they track them down? A task force? Canvassing their neighborhoods and requiring paperwork?

Passed in the middle of the night on a weekend with no local media coverage. What a crock.

So now there are 4 bills in the Colorado Senate waiting to take more of our rights away. One can only hope these fuckers come to their senses and kill the bills.

Elections have consequences and its time to vote these bastards out. Pat Stryker, Jared Polis and the rest of the 2008 Libs can kiss my ass for destroying this beautiful state.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:

quote:

House Democrats voted to pass three gun bills late on Saturday night, including one that would require gun owners to obtain a liability insurance policy for their firearms.

And what, I wonder, will be the process to go after the street thugs for ignoring getting liability insurance? How will they track them down? A task force? Canvassing their neighborhoods and requiring paperwork?

They don’t care about black people they only care about the narrative.

Does everyone know there was a mass shooting two days ago in Memphis? Yeah neither did anyone else who doesn’t live there. It’s because a bunch of black people shot up another group of black people.

This is total crap. If I lived in Colorado I’d ignore this unconstitutional tomfoolery bullshit anti 2A communist mess.

The answer is not fleeing Colorado because of its anti 2A stance, the solution is to fix Colorado and restore it to its greatness. One of the most beautiful states in our union has no business treating law abiding citizens like this and restricting their rights. Fight back and fix this Colorado!

And here's three more validations for moving from Colorado to Oklahoma was the best move we ever made...

I know there are people that can’t relocate for good reason(s), but if conservatives would abandon these states and let them collapse under their own weight things would change for the better.

You’re not going to “fix” these states. The demographics prove it. That is only an excuse to stay.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
I know there are people that can’t relocate for good reason(s), but if conservatives would abandon these states and let them collapse under their own weight things would change for the better.

You’re not going to “fix” these states. The demographics prove it. That is only an excuse to stay.

People said the same bullshit about Virginia. And yet my friends and family managed to elect a hell of a governor who vetoed the regressive left’s anti gun bullshit!!!

You don’t run away from battle ground states. You fight for them and the good people who live in those states.

It’s a mistake to think this kind of stuff could never happen in your beloved state.

Virginia’s demographics are totally different than Colorado. Colorado is not a battleground state.

When did CO flip Dem?

Is it not defeatist as fuck to think it could not unfuck its voting record?

Colorado was a conservative state for a long time. It’s naive and defeatist to think such a return is impossible to achieve.

If Virginia can pull it off then Colorado can too. To dismiss such an accomplishment is to accept defeat which is lame as fuck.

I’ve spent some time in Denver and Colorado Springs and met MANY LIKE MINDED PEOPLE (many who are quite reluctant to talk politics because they might not mesh with the consensus) . I am not about to give up on Colorado.

Unfortunately, Biden won Colorado by 13.5%. That’s beyond being a battleground state. Well just have to agree to disagree.

quote:

House Democrats voted to pass three gun bills late on Saturday night, including one that would require gun owners to obtain a liability insurance policy for their firearms.

I think it highly improbable that any insurance company would underwrite such a policy. Which is no doubt the intention of the bill.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:

And what, I wonder, will be the process to go after the street thugs for ignoring getting liability insurance? How will they track them down? A task force? Canvassing their neighborhoods and requiring paperwork?

The 5A prohibits mandatory self-incrimination. Thus a prohibited person cannot be compelled to register an illegal firearm, but an otherwise law abiding gun owner can be prosecuted for not registering (if their location requires registration).

Similarly, it would be a 5A violation to somehow track gun owners to verify they have insurance. Furthermore, Colorado law prohibits a list of gun owners, but this insurance mandate looks like a backdoor way to get there.

The only way to enforce gun restrictions against the violent thugs is Stasi/KGB methodology. Warrantless door to door searches, etc. But that assumes any of these laws are intended to affect criminals. The obvious intent is to eliminate lawful gun ownership.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
I know there are people that can’t relocate for good reason(s), but if conservatives would abandon these states and let them collapse under their own weight things would change for the better.

You’re not going to “fix” these states. The demographics prove it. That is only an excuse to stay.

Because that worked great in all those big cities, didn’t it? The ones that now run those states? Those states that will wind up running the country if we give them up?

Leaving and abandoning them is fine with the opposition, it's what they want, comply or go, even CA continues to tax without representation by instituting a Tax on people who leave.

Changing these states is possible, CA was once a conservativeish state, it takes lots of time and a big societal movement to fix it.

Social media is the weapon of choice today, TikTok, X, Fakebook, it's the way to get to kids, and why TikTok is now under the radar even by Dems, probably because the Chinese control it's content and they have no control, it's why they want it sold to a US owner so they can control content.

Start with the school boards if you want to change America and get competitive with social media, X and Truth Social get your family and kids involved and away from TikTok, Fakebook as much as possible.