A proposal making its way through the state legislature would let Coloradans place a voluntary freeze on gun sales to themselves.
This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared on KUNC.org.
The measure, Senate Bill 34, would make Colorado the fifth state to set up a so-called do not sell registry. If approved, Coloradans could add their names to the registry through an online portal.
The measure received its first hearing Thursday, passing the Senate State, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee 3-2 along party lines.
Suicides are often committed on an impulse, and guns are among the most common — and lethal — methods. The goal of the legislation is to put time and distance between a person in crisis and a firearm.
“We know that that helps save lives,” said Ginny Mack, a psychiatric nurse practitioner who lives in Fort Collins.
She began advocating for a do not sell list after serving as a nurse in the U.S. Navy and working with teens and college students.
“This is a self-controlled mechanism to protect oneself from one’s future self in crisis,” she said.
A do not sell registry would be entirely voluntary. Participants would not need a court order or psychiatric evaluation to enroll. They would simply go to an online portal operated by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and register, and they would be able to unenroll through the same process.
Enrollment would ban a person from buying a firearm anywhere in the country by flagging them in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, but the do not sell list would be open only to Colorado residents.
Colorado also has a red flag law that lets family members, law enforcement, prosecutors, teachers and health care professional petition a judge to temporarily remove a person’s firearms and prevent them from buying more guns.
The do-not-sell proposal draws from Donna’s Law, a piece of model legislation. Washington, Utah, Virginia and Delaware — have already approved do not sell lists for their residents. The U.S. Congress has also considered a national Do Not Sell registry.
Senate Bill 34 is sponsored by Sen. Cathy Kipp and Rep. Andy Boesenecker, both Fort Collins Democrats. The measure is expected to easily cruise through the Democratic-controlled Colorado legislature.
The legislation is among a number of bills being pursued by Democrats in the legislature this year that would tighten gun regulations. Among the others is Senate Bill 3, which would ban the manufacture and sale of certain semiautomatic rifles, shotguns and handguns that can accept detachable ammunition magazines.
Colorado Sun staff writer Jesse Paul contributed to this report.
This story was produced by the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Funding for the Alliance is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.