Wednesday, May 08, 2002 - 9 a.m. - The state House late Tuesday revived a bill killed earlier in the day that would set a uniform, statewide policy for issuing permits to carry concealed handguns.
Hours after the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 5-5 on House Bill 1410, rejecting a motion to advance the measure to the full Senate, the House amended the measure into a separate bill.
The House then gave preliminary approval to the measure, Senate Bill 229. If approved in a final House vote today, the measure would head back to the Senate.
Sen. Ken Chlouber, R-Leadville, a co-sponsor of the original bill, said if the measure is brought up for a vote in the Senate, he would have more than enough votes to approve it and send it to Gov. Bill Owens, who has indicated support for such a measure.
Earlier Tuesday, Chlouber said the bill had been mischaracterized by opponents who said it would pre-empt local control of concealed weapons.
Sen. Penfield Tate, D-Denver, said the measure would have prevented cities like Denver from controlling where concealed guns could be carried.
"I don't want a positive crime-fighting solution where people are drawing guns at the drop of a hat," said Tate, who voted against the bill.
Sen. Peggy Reeves, D-Fort Collins, who chairs the committee, also voted against it, rejecting pressure to send the bill to floor so the full Senate could decide.
She said she was afraid any restrictions placed on carrying concealed weapons would be stripped by the Republican-controlled House.
The vote marked the fifth time since the 1999 Columbine High School shooting attack that lawmakers have defeated a concealed weapons bill.
Legislators have withdrawn bills that would have simplified the application process for concealed weapons permits and let a state law override local ordinances on gun control after the shootings.
Federal law bans carrying a gun within 1,000 feet of school grounds, except for hunters passing through, people with state-issued concealed carry permits or people using guns in a school program. State law allows local authorities to decide who can carry a concealed weapon.
This year, the bill came closer to passage initially with support from some Senate Democrats, who have blocked previous attempts to expand the current law.
Senate President Stan Matsunaka, D-Loveland, has assigned bills to unfavorable committees in the past where they were killed. However, he supported this year's proposal and said the state needed a uniform gun law.
He assigned it to the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, where it passed its first hurdle last month.
Matsunaka said he tried to broker a compromise with fellow Democrats on the Appropriations Committee by offering tougher language prohibiting concealed weapons in universities and schools. He said supporters of the measure did not want that in the bill because current law allows local governments to make their own rules.
Opponents said they are not against a statewide concealed carry law, but insisted any proposal would need tougher standards for their support.
They said the bill would have allowed guns in courts, on playgrounds and in mental health centers where guns should be barred.
On April 20, 1999, two student gunmen killed 13 people before committing suicide at Columbine.