Two Denver Democrats on Tuesday introduced a measure that would ban the purchase, sale and transfer of a broad swath of semi-automatic firearms, defined in the bill as assault weapons, in Colorado.
The lead sponsors of House Bill 1292 are Reps. Elisabeth Epps and Tim Hernández. They introduced the legislation with 14 cosponsors, all of them House Democrats.
It’s unclear whether the measure, which is similar to legislation that failed in the Capitol last year, will have enough political support to pass out of the House, let alone the Senate. Democrats control both chambers. (Measures need 33 votes to clear the House and 18 to pass the Senate.)
If it passes the legislature, the bill would be met by a skeptical Gov. Jared Polis, who is also a Democrat.
House Bill 1292 will once again be a test of how far Colorado Democrats are willing to go in tightening the state’s firearm regulations. Democratic lawmakers have steadily passed a list of gun control laws since 2013 — including ones requiring universal background checks, imposing a waiting period on gun purchases and mandating the safe storage of firearms — but a ban on so-called assault weapons has been a third rail, splitting even the legislature’s fiercest gun safety advocates.
Some Democrats believe the policy would only be effective if passed on the federal level. Others believe Congress won’t act in the near future and so the state should take charge.
“Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines are disproportionately used in public mass shootings, and the reasons are both obvious and irrefutable,” the bill declares. “Assault weapons are uniquely lethal by design. They entail tactical features designed for warfare, refined to maximize killing large numbers of people quickly and efficiently.”
The legislation defines an assault weapons as:
- A semi-automatic rifle with a fixed magazine or that’s capable of accepting a detachable magazine or of being modified to accept a detachable magazine. It would also be defined as an assault rifle if it has either a pistol grip, muzzle brake, functional grenade or flare launcher, shroud attached to the barrel, threaded barrel, or a folding, telescoping or detachable stock.
- A semi-automatic pistol that’s capable of accepting a detachable magazine or is capable of being modified to accept a detachable magazine that also has a threaded barrel, second pistol grip, shroud attached to the barrel, a muzzle brake or an arm brace. One or more of those secondary features would make the pistol be defined as an assault weapon under the bill.
- A semi-automatic shotgun that either has a pistol grip, fixed large-capacity magazine, or a folding telescoping or thumbhole stock. One or more of those secondary features would make the shotgun be defined as an assault weapon under the bill.
- A .50-caliber rifle
The bill also defines a long list of specific makes and models of firearms as being assault weapons, including AK-47s, AR-15s, TEC-9s, Beretta Cx4 Storms, Sig Sauer SG550s, MAC-10s, and Derya MK-12s.
Possession of a so-called assault weapon would still be allowed under the bill, but people would be prohibited from importing such a firearm into Colorado.
The prohibition wouldn’t apply to members of the military or law enforcement. It also wouldn’t apply when a so-called assault weapon is being transferred to a licensed firearms dealer for temporary storage or permanent disposal, or being transferred to a gunsmith for maintenance or repair.
Violators of the statute would face a fine of $250,000 for a first offense and a $500,000 fine for subsequent offenses.
The measure would also ban the possession of rapid-fire trigger activators, which can make a semi-automatic gun fire at a rate similar to an automatic firearm.
Ten states and the District of Columbia have some form of a law banning certain semi-automatic weapons, according to Giffords, an organization that tracks gun policies across the nation. The group is named after former Arizona U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, a Democrat who was nearly killed in a mass shooting.
Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, a hard-line gun rights organization, has vowed to file a lawsuit to invalidate House Bill 1292 should it pass.
“We are going to fight like hell to stop this,” said Taylor Rhodes, who leads the group.
Epps was the lead sponsor of a bill last year that would have banned the sale and transfer of semi-automatic firearms defined in the measure as assault weapons. It was rejected in the House Judiciary Committee after more than 12 hours of public comment.
Polis has expressed skepticism about an assault weapons ban, especially in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to unwind a New York law requiring a license to carry concealed weapons in public places made it more difficult for states to pass gun control measures.
In that case, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the court set a precedent that if a gun statute regulates something that is protected under the plain text of the Second Amendment, then “the government must affirmatively prove that its firearms regulation is part of the historical tradition” for it to be constitutional.
It was under that standard that Colorado’s new law raising the age to purchase all guns to 21 was indefinitely blocked by a federal judge last year. RMGO filed the lawsuit challenging the measure.
“A lot of the whole discussion around gun safety is now under the framework of the Bruen decision,” Polis told The Colorado Sun in September when asked whether he would sign a bill banning assault weapons if it made it to his desk. “Even our increasing the age limit (law) is not enforced right now. We have not yet even succeeded in being able to raise the age limit to 21.”
The introduction of House Bill 1292 comes as the legislature is debating several other gun measures, including:
- House Bill 1174, which would change Colorado’s requirements to obtain a concealed carry permit to include attending a class with at least eight hours of instruction that includes a live-fire shooting exercise where at least 50 rounds of ammunition are fired. The lead sponsors of the bill are Democratic Reps. Monica Duran, of Wheat Ridge, and Marc Snyder, of Manitou Springs, as well as Democratic Sen. Kyle Mullica of Thornton.
- Senate Bill 131, which would dramatically expand the places where the open or concealed carry of firearms is prohibited, including to parks, hospitals, religious buildings, stadiums, amusement parks, government buildings, libraries and college campuses. The lead sponsors of the measure are Democratic Sens. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, of Longmont, and Chris Kolker, of Centennial, as well as Democratic Reps. Kyle Brown, of Louisville, and Mandy Lindsay, of Aurora. Its first hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee hasn’t been scheduled yet. The legislation faces an uphill battle toward passage.
- Senate Bill 3, which would authorize the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to investigate illegal firearms activity on a statewide basis and provide the agency with $1.7 million for that purpose. The measure is sponsored by two Democrats: Sen. Tom Sullivan of Centennial and Rep. Meg Froelich of Englewood. The measure was advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Also introduced Tuesday was House Bill 1270, which would require gun owners to obtain liability insurance or, if they can’t secure the insurance, to petition a court to waive the requirement. It would also require insurance companies to make firearm liability insurance available as part of homeowners and renter’s insurance policies, though they wouldn’t be required to offer the coverage to someone they feel is too risky.
The measure is sponsored by Democratic Reps. Steve Woodrow, of Denver, and Iman Jodeh, of Aurora, as well as Denver Democratic Sen. Chris Hansen.
Both House Bills 1270 and 1292 were assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. They haven’t yet been scheduled for hearings.