Bill to ban sale, transfer of ‘assault weapons’ in Colorado clears committee

Rep. Elisabeth Epps, a Denver Democrat, listens to witness testimony during a committee hearing on a bill to prohibit semi-automatic firearms in Colorado on March 19, 2024. (Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline)

A proposed ban on most semi-automatic rifles in Colorado made it out of a state House of Representatives committee just after midnight on Wednesday and now heads to the full House for consideration.

House Bill 24-1292 would prohibit the manufacture, import, transfer, purchase and sale of so-called “assault weapons” in Colorado. The bill provides a list of would-be banned features, such as a threaded barrel and pistol grip, and an extensive list of specific firearm models. People who already own these types of firearms would be allowed to keep them.

An amendment approved during committee would allow transfer to a licensed firearms dealer for storage or disposal, as well as transfer to an heir.

The bill is sponsored by Democratic Reps. Elisabeth Epps and Tim Hernández, both of Denver. Epps sponsored a similar bill last year, but it died in its first committee.

The bill was once again in front of the House Judiciary Committee, which has a more progressive makeup this year and does not include two of the Democrats who voted against last year’s version. It passed on a 7-3 party-line vote after 12 hours of emotional testimony from supporters and opponents.

“Coloradans have expected us for decades — in some cases some before some of us had the choice to come here — for us to take decisive, courageous policy action. One of the tenants of that is doing the work, that at this moment the federal government has not yet resumed, of taking the steps to interrupt the proliferation of these weapons in our communities,” Epps said, referring to a federal assault weapons ban that ended in 2004.

She called the scale of gun violence in the country a “uniquely American crisis” caused by poor policy choices.

Hernández, the first Gen Z lawmaker at 27 years-old, spoke about maturing in an American culture where public mass shootings at places like schools, movie theaters and grocery stores have become commonplace.

“This has been happening my entire life. And to be frank with you, I’m not waiting anymore. Assault weapons must be banned in the state of Colorado. As a young person in the state, it was our state Legislature that taught me that nobody is coming to save us. I now teach the young people in my classroom that we must save ourselves,” he said.

Hernández has taught in both Denver and Aurora and is now an educator at the Urban Peak shelter.

“I cannot morally do nothing. I cannot morally do nothing, like the adults in my life, and just ask students to wait. I cannot offer thoughts and prayers,” he said.

The Colorado House Judiciary Committee considered testimony on House Bill 24-1292 on March 19, 2024. (Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline)

The witness testimony fell into the usual contours of gun debates, with supporters arguing that civilians should not have access to such highly lethal weapons and opponents lambasting the bill for alleged unconstitutionality and laying blame for the country’s mass shooting epidemic on poor mental health resources, not the weapons themselves.

“How many more school shootings do I have to endure before we can come together as a state and say that citizens don’t need AR-15s to hunt and for self-defense?” said Grant Cramer, a sophomore at East High School in Denver, which experienced two shootings last year.

Opponents on Tuesday promised a legal challenge if the bill makes it through the legislative gauntlet and is signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, a gun-rights advocacy group, challenged a handful of firearm laws from last year, bolstered by the 2022 New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, which places a high legal burden on gun restrictions.

“Let me be clear: If this bill is signed into law, before the ink is dry I will file a lawsuit. I can promise you that,” RMGO Executive Director Taylor Rhodes said.

RMGO led the lawsuit to block a new Colorado law last year that raises the minimum age to purchase all guns to 21.

About 30% of federal court decisions in cases that cite Bruen have resulted in a Second Amendment violation, according to 2023 research.

No Senate sponsor yet

Originally, HB-1292 would have imposed a fine of $250,000 for the first offense and $500,000 for the second offense, both civil infractions. An amendment changed that consequence to a petty offense, the lowest level criminal offense in the state that can carry a 10-day stay in jail and fine up to $300.

Because those financial penalties were amended out of the bill, it can head straight to the House rather than face another hearing with the House Finance Committee. It is up to Democratic leadership when to schedule the bill for its floor debate.

The bill does not yet have a Senate sponsor. Democrats enjoy large majorities in both the House and Senate, but that does not mean the bill is set to pass.

“We know what the data tells us. We know what the public health officials suggest,” Epps said. “What we don’t know is if we as a body are going to make a collective decision that is unapologetically committed to saving lives … over saving seats.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:15 a.m. on March 2, 2024, to reflect the outcome of the committee vote.

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