HB 1144 Would Update Colorado’s Ghost Gun Law to Keep Pace With Emerging Technology and Protect Public Safety
Hundreds of Student Advocates with Students Demand Action to Rally at State Capitol on Wednesday, February 11 in Support of HB 1144
DENVER — Today, Colorado lawmakers introduced House Bill 1144, innovative legislation to update and strengthen Colorado’s ghost gun law. The bill, sponsored by Reps. Gilchrist and Boesenecker, and Senators Sullivan and Wallace, would update the state’s prohibition on the 3D printing of firearms, expanding the law to prohibit using 3D printers to manufacture high-capacity magazines and rapid-fire devices–dangerous accessories already banned in Colorado. It would also prohibit the distribution of the digital files that make it possible to print deadly weapons and illegal accessories. The bill will help ensure dangerous individuals can’t use rapidly growing technology to evade existing gun safety laws.
“Colorado has shown real leadership on gun safety, but allowing people to 3D-print illegal guns and accessories threatens to undo that progress,” said Alexander Cisneros, a volunteer with University of Colorado Boulder Students Demand Action. “This bill is about responsibility and safety, and making sure dangerous individuals can’t end-run state laws and manufacture untraceable weapons at home, putting our communities at risk.”
“Our gun safety laws only work if they keep up with the real world,” said Kathy Kelly, lead with the Colorado chapter of Moms Demand Action. “HB 1144 updates and strengthens our laws to ensure that Colorado stays ahead of emerging threats, instead of waiting for tragedy to strike.”
Colorado has led the nation on gun safety, but rapidly advancing technology has created new loopholes that enable criminals to undermine those protections. As 3D printers become cheaper, faster, and more accessible, they are increasingly being used to manufacture untraceable firearms and illegal accessories at home, posing a growing and immediate threat to public safety.
HB 1144 builds on Colorado’s existing ghost gun law by adding new safeguards to prevent misuse of 3D printing technology, expanding current law, which prohibits people from using 3D printers to illegally manufacture firearms, adding prohibitions on the printing of illegal accessories, and making it a crime to distribute the digital files that instruct machines how to do so. The bill will help ensure that existing state law prohibitions on high-capacity magazines and rapid-fire devices are effective and that Colorado’s gun safety laws are fully enforced as technology evolves.
The legislation comes amid growing concern from law enforcement about the rise of 3D-printed firearms and accessories recovered in criminal investigations across Colorado, including illegal gun-making operations involving 3D-printed rapid-fire devices and firearms capable of inflicting mass harm. In 2023, after a shooting at Denver East High School that wounded two deans, investigators recovered a 3D-printed handgun from the shooter.
Students Demand Action will be hosting their annual advocacy day next Wednesday, with hundreds of students expected to participate in a rally at 10AM. To learn more, please contact [email protected].
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