Posted on 03/04/2013 9:39:34 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
DENVER — Democrats have now passed the first six of seven gun control measures being heard at the Capitol Monday, on a marathon day of Senate hearings that brought hundreds of people to the Capitol — all of them on party-line votes with Democrats in support and Republicans opposed.
Just after 9 p.m., lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a controversial proposal that would make assault weapons manufacturers and retailers liable for crimes.
“No one needs an assault rifle,” said the sponsor, Senate President John Morse, D-Colorado Springs. “Society pays the price when one of these weapons falls into the wrong hands.
“Someone made a profit letting these weapons onto our streets but they don’t’ ever have to absorb the cost for the damage they cause.”
One gun owner, who waited several hours to testify, put it bluntly, telling Morse that his bill “pisses [her] off”.
Meanwhile, a few moments later, the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, meeting one floor above, passed its third and final bill of the day, House Bill 1226, which seeks to ban concealed weapons on college campuses.
During the hearing, lawmakers heard from two women who were raped on college campuses and who argued against the ban, telling lawmakers that they might have been able to fight off their attackers were they carrying concealed weapons.
Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster, told that witness, Amanda Collins, that statistics were “not in [her] favor”.
“Women are more likely to have those guns used against them,” Hudak said at the end of the hearing, clarifying a position that several conservative commentators took issue with as the hearing went on.
Tearing up, Sen. Angela Giron, D-Pueblo, who chairs the committee, acknowledged the difficulty of voting for the proposal after hearing emotional testimony from victims, but said that she’s promised her constituents she would.
High-capacity magazine ban passes
One of the most controversial proposals of the seven, House Bill 1224, which bans high-capacity magazines of 15 rounds or more, got the go-ahead from the Senate Judiciary Committee just before 6 p.m. as groans from the mostly opposed crowd filled the Old Supreme Court Chamber.
The legislation, which was amended so as not to ban shotguns and to exempt law enforcement officers, heads to the full Senate for a vote that’s likely to take place this Friday.
During the nearly four-hour hearing, relatives of those killed in mass shootings spoke passionately in support of the bill; and opponents, including a number of Colorado sheriffs were just as emotional.
The CEO of Magpul Industries, a manufacturer of high-capacity magazines based in Erie, reiterated the company’s threat to leave the state if the bill becomes law.
“Making products that are illegal here in Colorado is counter to our values,” said Richard Fitzpatrick, the founder and CEO of Magpul.
Lawmakers in the House, which has already approved the bill, added an amendment that would allow the company to continue making high-capacity magazines here for sales and use in other states.
And Dudley Brown, the executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, the state’s most strident gun rights group, was gaveled out of order by the committee chair after threatening to financially support whoever runs against Sen. Jessie Ulibarri, D-Adams County, who voted in favor of the ban.
Background check fees legislation passes
A few minutes earlier, House Bill 1228, which will require gun buyers to pay for their own background checks, cleared the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, which has been meeting simultaneously upstairs, on a 3-2 party-line vote.
The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, would make gun buyers pay a $10 or $12 fee for a Colorado Bureau of Investigation instant background check.
The Senate SVMA Committee is now set to begin debate on its final bill of the day, a concealed weapons ban on college campuses.
Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee is beginning to hear Senate Bill 196, perhaps the most controversial proposal of all, which would make assault weapons manufacturers and retailers liable for crimes.
“No one needs an assault rifle,” said the sponsor, Senate President John Morse. “Society pays the price when one of these weapons falls into the wrong hands.
“Someone made a profit letting these weapons onto our streets but they don’t’ ever have to absorb the cost for the damage they cause.”
Domestic violence gun restriction the first bill to pass Monday
Earlier in the day, legislation that would force convicted domestic violence offenders and anyone subject to a restraining order to relinquish their guns to law enforcement became the first of the seven Democratic gun control bills being heard Monday to get the go-ahead.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, after three hours of emotional and at times wrenching public testimony, passed Senate Bill 197 on a party-line, 3-2 vote and heads now to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“This bill is more than a ‘feel-good’,” said Sen. Evie Hudak, the bill’s sponsor, in response to arguments from opponents. “I will feel good when fewer people die, when an abuser doesn’t have a gun to kill them.”
S.B. 197 was the first of four gun control measures scheduled to be heard by the five-member Judiciary Committee Monday.
Around 3 p.m., lawmakers upstairs on the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs voted to approve House Bill 1229, which will require universal background checks for all gun purchases and transfers, the first of three bills being considered by that panel.
Lawmakers amended the bill so that transfers between family members do not require a background check for the first 72 hours.
That vote was also 3-2 and right down party lines.
Huge crowd of mostly opponents flood the Capitol
Hundreds of people began filling the Capitol’s hallways and hearing rooms early Monday morning, waiting to testify on seven Democratic gun bills that are being heard by two, separate Senate committees.
Gun owners who oppose the various proposals, which include a ban on high-capacity magazines, universal background checks, and a measure to make assault weapons manufacturers and sellers criminally liable for crimes, flooded the Capitol, the sidewalks outside and even the air above, with a circling airplane trailing a sign pleading Gov. John Hickenlooper not to “take our guns.”
And since the hearings got underway, a persistent wail of honking horns and car alarms has been heard inside the hearing rooms, signaling the determination of some opponents, many frustrated at the limited time allowed for official testimony, to make their opposition heard.
Proponents of the bills also launched an intense public relations blitz, starting the day with a press conference featuring several victims of mass shootings: former space shuttle Commander Mark Kelly, the husband of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords; Patricia Maisich, one of three people who tackled Giffords’ shooter as he was reloading; Tom Mauser, whose son, Daniel, was killed at Columbine; Dave Hoover, whose nephew, A.J. Boik, was one of 12 people killed last July inside Aurora’s Century 16 Theater; and Jane Dougherty, whose sister, Mary Sherlach, was killed at Sandy Hook School last December, along with 20 first-graders.
With seven bills being heard in two separate committees meeting at the same time, Senate Democrats have decided to limit testimony to three hours — 90 minutes per side — on all of the bills, all seven of which are expected to pass Monday on party-line votes.
Democrats hold 3-2 majorities on both the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is hearing four bills in the Old Supreme Court chamber, and the Senate State, Veterans and Miliary Affairs Committee, which is hearing three bills up on the Capitol’s third floor.
Mark Kelly testifies in support of universal background checks
Kelly testified in support of House Bill 1229, which will require background checks on all private gun sales, the first bill heard by the SVMA Committee Monday.
“We don’t come to the debate on gun violence as victims,” he said. “We offer our voices as Americans. We’re moderates. We’re both gun owners. And we take that right and the responsibilities that come with it very seriously.”
Kelly told the story of his wife’s shooting two Januarys ago, and of her difficult recovery; he noted that the alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, bought his weapon after passing a background check, despite his mental health records already having disqualified him for military service and being kicked out of school.
“He should not have passed a background check,” Kelly said, when pressed on that point by Sen. Larry Crowder, R-Alamosa. “The Army knew he was a heavy drug user. His records should have been in the system. He should have failed a background check. But had that happened, he still would have had another option, to go down the street, get online, and buy a weapon.
“The breadth and complexity of gun violence is great. But that is not an excuse for inaction.”
Kelly compared having loopholes for background checks on private sales and, in many other states, at gun shows to having two different security lines at the airport.
“If there’s no security in one of the lines, which one do you think the terrorist will choose?” he said.
Sandy Hook victim’s sister also backs universal background checks
CBI Director Ron Sloan, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates and Jane Dougherty, whose sister, Mary Sherlach, was the school pyschologist killed at Sandy Hook School last December, also testified in support of universal background checks.
“I hear that some think universal background checks is a burden. I’d like to speak directly to them,” said Dougherty, who lives in Littleton.
“A burden is hearing about a mass shooting in Connecticut, working with your family through the chaos to coinfirm it is your sister’s school; a burden is getting a call from your niece: ‘we lost her.’
“A burden is everything that comes after this horrific news, explaining a mass shooting to your 10 year old son.”
“A background check is not a burden. It will save lives,” Dougherty told the committee. “Maybe even your family’s.”
Dave Hoover, whose nephew A.J. Boik was killed inside the Aurora movie theater last July, also testified in support of universal background checks.
“I’m a Republican,” said Hoover, a detective. “Many men and women I work with want to see a difference made in the state. We want to see our Republican representatives do the right thing.
“It’s time for us to make a difference.”
Dougherty, Hoover and Tom Mauser, whose son, Daniel, was killed at Columbine, also testified later Monday in support of the high-capacity magazine ban.
Opponents begin testimony with murder victim’s daughter
The daughter of a murder victim of Gary Davis, the last man executed by the state of Colorado in 1997, was the first person to testify against universal background checks.
Krista said that she opposes all gun controls and believes that had her mother had a gun to defend herself she might be alive today.
“Background checks won’t stop the next Gary Davis,” Krista said. “They’ll just make my world less safe.”
A group of sheriffs, many from rural counties, spoke against background checks, with one representative, Sheriff John Cooke of Weld County, speaking as a group of supporing sheriffs, all in uniform, stood quietly behind him.
“It seems mostly like Denver metro area sheriffs who are supporting this,” Cooke said. “We know there are a lot of chiefs and line level police officers throughout the state who don’t support these bills.”
Are we discussing the Bill of Needs or the Bill of Rights?
Colorado sucks. I’m glad I moved.
The list of those who would gladly prevent the innocent from defending ourselves has grown, my FRiends:
Dem. Rep. Claire Levy 303-866-2578 claire.levy.house@state.co.us
Dem. Rep. Rhonda Fields 303-866-3911 rhonda.fields.house@state.co.us
Dem. Sen. Morgan Carroll 303-866-4879 morgan.carroll.senate@state.co.us
Dem. Sen. Evie Hudak 303-866-4840 senatorhudak@gmail.com
Dem. Rep. Beth McCann 303-866-2959 beth.mccann.house@state.co.us
Dem. Sen. Lois Tochtrop 303-866-4863 lotochtrop@aol.com
Dem. Rep. Jenise May 303-866-2945 jenise.may.house@state.co.us
Dem. Rep. Lois Court 303-866-2967 lois.court.house@state.co.us
Dem. Sen. Rollie Heath 303-866-4872 rollie.heath.senate@state.co.us
Dem. Sen. Mary Hodge 303-866-4855 mary.hodge.senate@state.co.us
Dem. Sen. John Morse 303-866-6364 john.morse.senate@state.co.us
Dem. Sen. Jessie Ulibarri 303-866-4857 jessie.ulibarri.senate@state.co.us
Dem. Sen. Irene Aguilar 303-866-4852 irene.aguilar.senate@state.co.us
Dem. Sen Lucia Guzman 303-866-4862 lucia.guzman.senate@state.co.us
Vote them ALL out!
I think you're right , but the politicians better know that We The People know were they live when the balloon goes up.
This “dog and pony show” clearly backs the statement: “In all cases, with government regulators, any mention of a “need” for a bill or regulation WILL EVENTUALLY PASS. No exceptions.
This rule applies from the lowest form of a local town’s politicians up to the highest U.S. courts. IT NEVER FAILS!
Stop and think. Has anyone ever heard of a “suggestion” that the government (on all levels) needs to do that eventually was not turned into a regulation or law? I certainly have not.
Sometimes it takes years to happen, but you can bet the farm on it that it will happen.
If we had a supreme court without hand picked toadies of Obama every one of these gun laws would be unconstitutional.
I’m thinkin’ that Brokeback Mtn. is near Denver Colo.
To All:
The relocated Kalifornia moonbats are getting their way.
Coming to more states near you, and perhaps your own.
Montana will be next. Or Wyoming.
Small population states that rich Californians flee to, and take over.
What happened? Maybe a lot of Californians moved there.
This doesn’t sound like something real western men would do.
I live in Maryland and we are fighting hard, but we have 51 gun bill coming up to try to defeat.
We lost to the queers when they passed same sex marriage,and the same queer lovers who voted for that will probably vote against gun owners.
It’s a hard row to hoe.
FReeper Washi was there yesterday.
“I hear that some think universal background checks is a burden. I’d like to speak directly to them,” said Dougherty, who lives in Littleton.
“A burden is hearing about a mass shooting in Connecticut, working with your family through the chaos to coinfirm it is your sister’s school; a burden is getting a call from your niece: ‘we lost her.’
“A burden is everything that comes after this horrific news, explaining a mass shooting to your 10 year old son.”
“A background check is not a burden. It will save lives,” Dougherty told the committee. “Maybe even your family’s.”
Spoken like a nitwit whose never been treated as guilty until proven innocent. I’ve got something I’d like to tell him, directly to his face (no, it’s not a fist).
It was amazing to see.
I didn't see the crowd size outside, but inside the capitol building, hundreds upon hundreds of pro-2nd Amendment people lined up and crowded into rooms listening to testimony.
Most of us had signed up to testify, but since Morse scheduled debate on all 7 bills for the same day, and limited the discussion to 90 minutes each side/each bill, it was impossible for anyone to hear all of the debate, and most of us didn't get the chance to testify.
And Dudley Brown, the executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, the state’s most strident gun rights group, was gaveled out of order by the committee chair after threatening to financially support whoever runs against Sen. Jessie Ulibarri, D-Adams County, who voted in favor of the ban.
Ulibarri badgered Dudley Brown after his testimony to admit that RMGO had financially supported the two Republican members of the committee (is this a surprise?). Brown eventually shot back that "Yes, I will give money to your opposition".
Earlier in the day, Ulibarri bristled at the suggestion that the dem senators had been receiving pressure from the federal government (Obama and/or "Shotgun" Joe Biden). They wouldn't deny it, they just acted offended at the suggestion.
Very disappointed, but not really surprised that the bills were passed out of committee.
The biggest disappointment was in hearing the financial and employment impact of Magpul leaving the state. The dems are more concerned about forwarding Obama's enslaving agenda than about the lives and livelihoods of the people they supposedly represent.
OH! And I called Ulibarri’s office last week.
I told him that gun owners are the good guys, and invited him to the range so he could shoot my many pistols. Told him that I’d pay the range fee and ammo costs, too.
I knew he’d never respond. Oh, well.
He’s up for election soon in my district, and I will make it WELL KNOWN what he did yesterday.
My beloved New Mexico is circling the drain. Hopefully Wyoming and Montana will resist the Californication of their states.
Every beautiful place in the US, that is fit to live, seems to have an sudden influx, first of New Agers, then Liberals from a ruined state, then a homo invasion.
Most of us had signed up to testify, but since Morse scheduled debate on all 7 bills for the same day, and limited the discussion to 90 minutes each side/each bill, it was impossible for anyone to hear all of the debate, and most of us didn’t get the chance to testify.
I can think of no instance in my lifetime that a public discussion taking place immediately before a bill was passed accomplished anything. When it reaches that point, it’s all a “dog and pony show” for the public to see just how wonderful it was to let the public air their grievances before a bill (or regulation) that had already been approved by all on the staff (or council) before they even entered the room. The vote simply occurred after the serfs, proles or unwashed (whichever you choose) got to “blow off some steam” and accomplished nothing.
That’s the way government works. However, that’s not taught in our schools...it’s taught in the school of hard knocks.
Colorado is going to be full of good felons. As opposed to bad felons.
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