Colorado’s Democratic House lawmakers passed a bill late Sunday that would, for the first time in state history, prevent the sale, purchase, or transfer of so-called “assault weapons,” setting the controversial legislation on a collision course with the state Senate.
House Bill 1292 passed 35-27, two votes more than the number needed, according to the Denver Gazette. The bill’s supporters were all Democratic, though nine other Democrats sided with Republicans and voted against it.
While the measure does not ban the possession of “assault weapons,” defined as “high-powered, semiautomatic rifles and pistols that have fixed, large-capacity magazines or have the ability to accept detachable magazines, along with various other characteristics and types of high-powered firearms,” it does pose a $750 fine on anyone who sells them.
Gun shops caught breaking the law and selling 13 different types of “assault weapons” could risk their state license. Lawmakers are also trying to push through a bill that would free up funds for state investigators to go after shops illegally selling the weapons.
Democrats pitched the plan as a preventive measure against mass shootings and said “assault weapons” have no place in society.
They added that Colorado should lead the way and does not have time to wait for a federal ban. Critics argued the bill would ban most guns in Colorado and therefore infringe on a person’s Second Amendment right.
The measure was passed during a rare legislative session on Sunday night, and the bill is expected to be assigned to the Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee.
Though the bill passed the House, it has a much higher climb in the state Senate.
Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) has also indicated he would like to wait for a federal response and said there were limits to what the state could do, adding that a ban in Colorado would just prompt people to cross state lines and buy their weapons in Wyoming, which does not require background checks when making purchases through a private dealer.
Last year, a similar bill died in committee after Democratic lawmakers cited concerns that signing on to a bill would break promises they made to their constituents to avoid government overreach when it came to gun rights.
Instead, Democrats passed, and Polis signed into law, four bills that raised the age for buying a gun to 21 from 18, established a three-day waiting period between the purchase of a gun and getting it, strengthened the state’s red flag law, and rolled back some legal protections that would expose the firearms industry to lawsuits from victims of gun violence.
Colorado has seen some of the country’s worst mass shootings.
In 2022, five people were killed and 18 injured at an LGBT nightclub in Colorado Springs.
In 2015, three people were shot and killed after an armed 57-year-old anti-abortion supporter opened fire at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs, killing three people, including a police officer, and injuring nine. A standoff with authorities lasted five hours.
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In 2012, one armed gunman opened fire at an Aurora movie theater and killed 12 people at the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises. Seventy others were wounded.
In 1999, 15 people died at Columbine High School after two armed teenagers went on a shooting spree. At the time, it was the largest school shooting in U.S. history.