Taylor Rhodes, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, testifies against Senate Bill 23-170, a gun violence prevention bill, during the Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee hearing at the state capitol in Denver, March 8, 2023.
Sunday marked the first day of October, as good of a sign as any that the heat of summer is officially over. Unfortunately for gun owners in Colorado, it also marked a new day of strict regulations of Second Amendment rights in their state.
It was not long ago when the state did not trample on the right to keep and bear arms, but that was then.
At the head of the class for the new gun control package is a new three-day waiting period to receive a firearm after it is legally purchased. A second law makes the path easier to sue the weapons industry over supposed culpability for gun violence.
There was intended to be another new state law that would raise the minimum age to buy a rifle to 21. That act, however, was temporarily blocked by a federal judge in August through an injunction just as it was to take effect.
The waiting period applies to all gun sales, both at retail stores and at gun shows. Licensed gun dealers face a fine of $500 for violations that may increase to $5,000 for a second offense. The three-day period begins when the background check is initiated.
A Colorado law from 2021 means that local governments may extend that waiting period past the three-day minimum at their discretion.
Multiple gun rights organizations jumped into the fray in 2023 to halt Colorado’s lurch toward more gun restrictions. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners sued earlier this year on behalf of a woman who said her rights would be violated by the law.
However, a judge recently declined to block the waiting period, saying it had not yet taken effect and thus would not irreparably harm the plaintiff.
The organization dropped the suit but said it intends to refile this week.
There is also a pending case against the waiting period which was filed by the Colorado Shooting Association. The gun rights advocates represent seven domestic violence survivors and noted that people who are threatened need immediate access to weapons.
The battle over Colorado’s suppression of the Second Amendment is just getting started.
