This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance.
A Democratic state senator who signed on as a cosponsor of Senate Bill 3, which would ban the manufacture and sale of certain semiautomatic rifles, shotguns and handguns that can accept detachable ammunition magazines, says he will vote against the measure.
Sen. Marc Snyder of Manitou Springs said he didn’t fully understand its effect when he agreed to attach his name to it.
Snyder’s reversal doesn’t mean the legislation won’t pass. It still has enough supporters in the Senate to clear the chamber, barring more than one other defection. The bill is scheduled to get a preliminary vote in the Senate on Friday.
But it highlights the shifting political ground beneath Senate Bill 3, which would represent one of the biggest changes to Colorado gun policy in state history.
Of the 23 Democrats in the chamber, 19 have either verbally committed to voting “yes” on the bill when asked by The Sun or have signaled they will support it by serving as cosponsors.
Two Democrats — Snyder and Sen. Nick Hinrichsen of Pueblo — say they can’t vote for the measure as is, while two more — Sens. Dylan Roberts and Kyle Mullica — haven’t said how they will vote on the legislation.
All 12 Republicans in the Senate are expected to vote against Senate Bill 3.
It takes 18 votes to pass a bill out of the Senate.
One of the bill’s lead sponsors, Centennial Democrat Sen. Tom Sullivan, was confident Wednesday morning that the bill will hold onto enough support to pass.
“I’ve gotten assurances,” Sullivan said. “We’re gonna stick together through this and move it on.”
Sullivan also said he is available to answer his colleagues’ questions to clear up any confusion about the bill, especially from Snyder.
The other Senate cosponsors of the bill are Judy Amabile, Jeff Bridges, Lisa Cutter, Jessie Danielson, Lindsey Daugherty, Tony Exum, Sonya Jaquez Lewis, Cathy Kipp, Chris Kolker, Iman Jodeh, Janice Marchman, Dafna Michaelson Jenet, Robert Rodriguez, Mike Weissman and Faith Winter. Sen. Julie Gonzales is a lead sponsor alongside Sullivan.
Snyder on Tuesday told The Colorado Sun that when he signed onto the bill he thought it was solely aimed at enforcing the state’s 2013 ban on ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds. As written, he said, the measure is more of a “de facto ban.”
“I just can’t vote for that bill,” he said, explaining that his constituents in El Paso County overwhelmingly oppose firearms bans.
Hinrichsen said while he supports the parts of the measure banning devices that can make semiautomatic weapons fire at a rate similar to an automatic weapon, he opposes the parts that would ban the manufacture and sale of certain semiautomatic rifles, shotguns and handguns that can accept detachable ammunition magazines.
“I believe that, broadly, semiautomatic firearm ownership by law-abiding individuals is protected by the Second Amendment,” he wrote in a statement. “I also have very little confidence that this provision would decrease the amount of casualties in a mass shooting. … Given the precedent set by the Bruen decision, I also have some doubts that the Supreme Court would uphold this component of the bill, were it to go into effect.”
Two other Democrats in the chamber, Senate President James Coleman and Sen. Matt Ball, both of Denver, aren’t cosponsors of the bill but told The Colorado Sun they will vote “yes” on the measure.
Roberts said in a text message that he hasn’t decided yet how he will vote on the bill.
“Waiting to see what/if any amendments might be coming and a better indication on (the governor’s) position,” he said.
Mullica hasn’t publicly said how he will vote on the bill.
Coleman said there are efforts underway to alleviate members’ confusion and concerns around the bill.
“We have had, over the past week, a lot of conversations with all of our members to talk about the bill — what the bill does, what its impact is,” he said Wednesday. “I’ve been there for those and so I know members have gotten their questions answered.”
Coleman is also preparing for a long day of floor debate Friday after conversations with Senate Republicans.
The Senate GOP caucus plans to fight the measure.
“We will fight to defend Coloradans’ rights, the Constitution and public safety,” said Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, R-Monument.
Gov. Jared Polis hasn’t said whether he would sign the bill if it makes it to his desk.
Polis told The Sun last month that while a ban on the manufacture and sale of certain semiautomatic firearms with a removable ammunition magazine isn’t his preferred method of tackling gun violence, he’s not fundamentally opposed to the idea.
Polis said he thinks the state’s focus “should be on guns used in crime,” which is why his priority firearm bill at the Capitol this year targets stolen weapons. But he’s not uniformly opposed to the bill since it does not prohibit the possession of any guns and thus wouldn’t affect weapons people already own.
“I’m not entirely sure why the legislature wants to play around with different gun models,” he said. “Certainly always a red line for me has been don’t affect things that people already have. This proposal obviously clears that.”
The governor said in deciding whether to sign or veto the bill he wants “to make sure it doesn’t interfere with legal, law-abiding gun owners in our state for hunting, for home defense or sport.”
On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Polis said: “The governor will continue to review the bill as it moves through the process and changes.”
Should Senate Bill 3 pass the Senate, it would then head to the House, the legislature’s more progressive chamber, where it is expected to pass.
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.