Thank you to the Democrat-led state legislature for delivering several new and upgraded gun safety bills during this session. On signing the first four of the gun bills, Polis called the bills a “significant investment in making Colorado safer.”

• Senate Bill 168 repeals state law barring gun violence victims from suing firearms manufacturers and dealers.

• House Bill 1219 creates a three-day waiting period for delivery of firearm after purchase. 

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• Senate Bill 169 raises the age for purchasing a gun from 18 to 21.

• Senate Bill 170 expands the red flag law, (Extreme Risk Protection Order) by allowing district attorneys, teachers, higher education faculty, mental health and medical professionals to seek red flag petitions that would remove firearms from someone deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.

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Another gun safety bill (Senate Bill 129) that bans ghost guns also passed. Ghost guns are usually made from kits or 3-D printer parts and do not have serial numbers so their history cannot be traced by law enforcement. Another bill that would prohibit discharge of a weapon in an area with more than 35 residences per acre does not look like it will make it out of committee.

These bills contribute to making gun use in Colorado safer. But, the big one, the elephant in the room, banning assault weapons, did not make it out of committee. Yes, such a ban will be hard to pass, but other states have done so and are safer for it.

Colorado has a long-established gun culture and welcomes properly licensed hunters. However, assault weapons are not made for hunting moose, elk, deer or other game. Assault weapons are made for killing people. Period. These weapons do not belong in Colorado.

We are all well aware that banning assault weapons will be difficult; that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.

Wallis Morris
Steamboat Springs