Solid CCW Bill Introduced in CO House

Colorado General Assembly ^ | 02-02-02 | Bob Locke

[John R. (Bob) Locke]

A very good concealed carry bill has been offered in the Colorado House of Representatives by Rep. David Schultheis (R - El Paso County). As introduced, the bill would, in part:

1.) Change CCW permit issuance from "may issue" to "shall issue"; removing arbitrary decision-making from the process. ("Requires the sheriff, and any person having the duties of a sheriff in a city and county, to issue a permit to anyone who applies for such permit and is eligible to possess a handgun under federal and state law.")

2.) Remove the authority to issue permits from chiefs of police (who are political appointees) and assign it solely to the Sheriff (who is an elected official).

3.) Give the issuing authority ten days from the date of receiving an application to either issue or deny the permit.

4.) Make permits valid for five years, and cap the fee for such permits at $100.

5.) Prohibit a sheriff from imposing any criteria or requirements on a permit applicant beyond those specified in the act.

6.) Direct the sheriff to provide each applicant with information on handgun safety and legal issues involving the use of handguns.

7.) Prohibit a sheriff from requiring an applicant to provide any information concerining weapons the applicant may own. (No registration of the particular gun or guns you may carry.)

8.) Provide for reciprocity with other states that recognize valid Colorado CCW permits.

The REALLY good news here is that the bill's sponsor (Schultheis) sits on the committee to which the bill has been assigned, as do two of its co-sponsors (Crane, Sinclair). Sinclair is the committee chair, and Schultheis is the vice-chair, so there won't be any funny business as far as legislative procedures go. There are nine people on that committee, so that means three of the needed five votes are in the bag. Further, Rep. Cadman also sits on that committee, and he has been a solid pro-freedom vote. In my book, he's the fourth vote.

Rep. Fairbank is the other Republican on the committee. He's the House Majority Caucus Chairman, and will probably decide whether or not this bill gets to the House floor for a vote. I sent him an e-mail earlier today asking for his support and co-sponsorship of this bill. If you're in Colorado (or even if you plan to visit here and would like to have your own CCW permit recognized when you come) I urge you to do the same. Here's his contact info:

Rob Fairbank
Majority Caucus Chairman
Colorado State Representative, District 30
Office Location: 200 E. Colfax, Room 314
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303)866-2927
E-Mail: fairbank@qwest.net

This is about as close to a Vermont-style carry as we can expect in the current environment. Let's see if we can get a win for the good guys!

[John R. (Bob) Locke]

Full text of the bill can be found here. (Requires Abode Acrobat Reader.)

[riverrunner]

Sounds good now if we can get it to pass well be even better. But a true reading and enforcement of the 2nd. Would even be better.