The Colorado chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots networks, released the following statement today after Colorado lawmakers advanced three gun violence prevention proposals:
- The Colorado House of Representatives passed HB21-1298, a bill that would help ensure that people with recent violent criminal convictions cannot access firearms and close the Charleston Loophole in Colorado, a gap in federal law which allows people to purchase firearms despite an incomplete background check if the check is not completed in three business days. The bill goes next to the Senate.
- The Colorado House of Representatives also passed HB21-1299, a bill that would establish the Office of Gun Violence Prevention in the Department of Public Health and the Environment. The bill goes next to the Senate.
- The Colorado Senate advanced SB21-256 through its second reading. The bill would repeal provisions of the state’s burdensome preemption law and allow localities to adopt locally tailored solutions to gun violence. The bill is now eligible for a final vote in the Senate.
“Today’s votes made it clear — Colorado legislators are willing to take real action to address the threat of gun violence,” said Abbey Winter, a volunteer with Colorado Moms Demand Action. “These bills take critical steps toward protecting our communities and preventing tragedies like the Boulder shooting from happening again. We encourage lawmakers to send them to the Governor’s desk as quickly as possible.”
“Our lawmakers are clearly taking a stand to protect Coloradans,” said Devon Romero, a volunteer with Students Demand Action at the University of Colorado Boulder. “Our state has had too many lives taken from us these past few months, and this sweeping action is exactly what we need to prevent further gun violence. I’m thankful that our lawmakers are taking action to protect us.”
These bills make up a suite of gun violence prevention measures introduced last month with the intention of preventing tragedies like the recent mass shooting in Boulder, in which 10 people were shot and killed, as well as the hundreds of lives taken and forever changed by gun violence every day.
The votes come just over a week after a mass shooting in Colorado Springs in which six people were shot and killed in an act of domestic violence at a birthday party on Sunday morning. On Friday, the Colorado House of Representatives passed HB21-1255, which would help keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers by strengthening the rules for firearm relinquishment.
Statistics about gun violence in Colorado are available here, and information on how Colorado’s gun laws compare to other states’ overall is available here.
