Democrats in the Colorado legislature are pursuing an expansion of the state’s red flag law this year and are also trying to impose new rules on the sale of gun barrels.
Lawmakers gave initial approval Tuesday to the bill that would expand the list of who can petition to have someone’s guns temporarily removed under Colorado’s extreme risk protection order, or ERPO, law, commonly referred to as the state’s “red flag” law. It would also expand the circumstances that could prompt a red flag seizure request.
This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at kunc.org.
Senate Bill 4 would let co-responders, behavioral health specialists who are paired with law enforcement or other first responders, ask a judge to order that someone’s guns be taken away. Co-responders are increasingly involved in 911 calls about people suffering from mental health or substance use issues. Co-responders currently have to go through their law enforcement partners to petition for an extreme risk protection order.
Another piece of the measure would allow for the seizure of someone’s guns if their child, or a child in their household, is determined to be in danger of harming themself or others.
Dozens of witnesses testified at Tuesday’s hearing both in support and opposition to the bill. The proceedings largely remained calm, but became contentious at one point when one witness’ outbursts prompted security officers to remove him.
Ultimately, Senate Bill 4 was approved along party lines, with the committee’s three Democrats in support and two Republicans opposed.
Supporters of the bill say Colorado’s red flag laws are a way to intervene and stop gun violence before it happens, including suicides.
“Gun deaths are happening by suicides and domestic violence, which is a number one thing that we can do with an extreme risk protection order, temporarily remove a firearm from someone who’s going to be a danger to themselves or others,” said state Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Centennial Democrat who is the bill’s lead sponsor.
Sullivan, whose son was murdered during the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, has been a leader in Colorado’s efforts to tighten gun laws over the last several years. He was a sponsor of the state’s original red flag law in 2019. State Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Engelwood, is also sponsoring Senate Bill 4.
Colorado’s red flag law allows judges to temporarily seize a person’s firearms if they are deemed to pose a significant threat to themself or others.
When it first passed, the law only allowed family members and law enforcement to petition a judge to remove someone’s firearms. Lawmakers added healthcare providers, district attorneys, and teachers to the list in 2023.
Some witnesses who testified in support of Senate Bill 4 on Tuesday referenced the shooting at Evergreen High School in September, when a 16-year-old critically wounded two classmates before fatally shooting himself. Authorities have not said how he obtained the gun he used in the attack, but he was too young to buy a gun.
“We sadly just started this past school year with the shooting at Evergreen High School. We strongly believe that this bill will help keep our children safer,” said Evie Hudak, vice president of advocacy for Colorado PTA and a former state senator. “Teachers spend a lot of time with our children and are aware of their potential for violence.”
The bill would also allow certain institutions to petition for an extreme risk protection order, rather than an individual, including health care facilities, behavioral health treatment facilities, K-12 schools, and colleges and universities.
Sullivan said allowing for “institutional petitioners” would provide a layer of protection for the individuals who work directly with a respondent, like therapists, doctors, nurses and teachers, and would alleviate the individual administrative burden of filing a petition.
Republicans on the committee strongly opposed the bill, arguing it would infringe on Coloradans’ constitutional right to bear arms and due process.
“Everyone who knows me and has been through any of my votes knows that I am very much pro Second Amendment, and if there’s anything that infringes on that, I will be a no vote. And so that is what informs my decision today,” state Sen. Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells, said at the end of Tuesday’s hearing.
Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson, R-Colorado Springs, the other Republican on the committee, said she is concerned about the financial burden on gun owners who have to pay to have their firearms stored if they are seized as part of a red flag law petition.
According to data from the state’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention, 692 ERPO petitions were filed between 2020 and 2024. The majority of those were granted, either for a two-week period or up to a year. Petitions filed by law enforcement were also much more likely to be approved than those filed by non-law enforcement.
Colorado’s red flag law has also withstood multiple court challenges since 2019.
Pro-gun groups, including the Colorado State Shooting Association, the state’s National Rifle Association offshoot, also testified in opposition to the bill.
Democrats’ second major gun-control proposal this year, Senate Bill 43, was introduced in the Senate on Tuesday.
The bill would require that gun barrels be sold or transferred only by a federally licensed firearm dealer, and require that the sale or transfer happen in-person. It would also outlaw barrel sales to anyone under 18 years old or who is prohibited from owning a firearm under state or federal law.
First-time violations would be an unclassified misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail or a fine of up to $500. Subsequent offenses would be Class 2 misdemeanors.
A gun-barrel seller would also be required by the bill to keep a record of the sale for at least five years. The bill includes exceptions for sales of gun barrels to law enforcement agencies, the military or to someone who is also legally purchasing a firearm.
The measure aims to curb online gun barrel sales and also build on a 2023 law that banned the possession, sale and manufacture of ghost guns in Colorado. Ghost guns are firearms sold in kits or printed using a 3-D printer that can be assembled at home and don’t include serial numbers, making them difficult to track.
Sullivan said that although some ghost gun parts can be made of plastic, barrels are typically made out of metal to withstand the intense heat generated when a bullet is fired.
Both the barrel-sale measure and the red flag law expansion are part of Democrats’ wider push to create new regulations on guns and gun ownership over the last several years as a way to curb and protect against gun violence.
Last year, Democrats in the legislature passed some of the strictest gun-ownership rules in the country, making it illegal to buy, sell and manufacture many guns that use detachable magazines, unless a person has a special permit. The rules take effect in August.
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.