Day by day, Colorado is starting to sound more and more like Kalifornia. Lots to choose from. Here's one of 'em (bold is mine):
The perceived problem:
"Residents tend to get concerned when they see somebody carrying a gun in the open, and police always respond prepared for an act of violence . . ."
And the solution:
"One change being considered would require gun owners to use cases for carrying guns in public . . . Owners would have to use cases shaped like a gun or clearly marked as a gun case with a label or picture.
So the sight of a real gun is bad, but a picture of a gun is OK. Next some ninny will be offended by the picture. Why not make all gun owners ring a bell and chant "Unclean!" whenever they go outside. Sheesh!
STORY
By Greg Avery
Camera Staff Writer
The fife and drum brigade outside brought flair to the meeting, but protesters accusing Boulder of laying out a welcome mat for murderers and rapists reminded spectators what the issue was.
Guns.
Passions rose at a noisy June 21 Boulder City Council discussion about suggestions for changing local laws governing firearms.
Police say they worried about tensions between gun-control supporters and gun-rights activists, fearing they might spark physical confrontations. That had happened earlier in the year at a University of Colorado appearance by Charlton Heston, president of the National Rifle Association.
Since then, the debate has quieted, and police are less concerned about the threat of violence. On Tuesday, however, proposals to stiffen some gun ordinances come back before the City Council, and another large crowd is expected to fill its chambers.
"We're not expecting any trouble, but we are expecting a lot of people," said City Clerk Alisa Lewis.
Council members will consider and possibly approve six proposed ordinance changes refined from earlier discussions. The measures deal with gun transport, storage and possession by minors within city limits.
The new rules were drafted in response to the April 1999 Columbine High School shootings. Council members asked the staff to see if local laws could be stiffened.
One change being considered would require gun owners to use cases for carrying guns in public, though the change would not apply to guns in cars or to concealed weapons authorized by permit. Owners would have to use cases shaped like a gun or clearly marked as a gun case with a label or picture.
The change, City Attorney Joe de Raismes said, is meant to bring the local laws into accord with Boulder's status as an urban area, not a rural western town where people are accustomed to seeing pistols holstered to a bypasser's belt.
The ordinance was drafted at the suggestion of Boulder police, who were tired of responding — sometimes with a SWAT team — to panicky calls about people carrying guns in public.
Residents tend to get concerned when they see somebody carrying a gun in the open, and police always respond prepared for an act of violence, said Chief Mark Beckner
Beckner
.
"Rather than walk down the street with a gun on your hip and alarming everyone, why not put it in a case?" Beckner said.
The council may also require the safe storage of assault rifles in the city. The proposed ordinance changes would create criminal penalties for any gun owner who fails to safely store a gun that is then used by somebody under 18.
As further incentive for safe storage of guns, Boulder gun owners may get legal protection against civil lawsuits if a gun stolen from them is used in a crime — though the protection would only apply if the weapon was kept in a locked gun safe when it was stolen.
The proposals for safe storage and limits on gun use by minors were intended to prevent situations in which a child may have access to a gun and use it on a friend or classmate.
Another ordinance would bar minors from possessing a gun in the city except when a parent or guardian is present and when hunting, target shooting or safety training is the purpose.
Gun-control activists had asked the city to prohibit keeping assault rifles in the city, as Denver does, but the city attorney's office recommended against enacting such a ban.
Denver's law responded to a rash of shootings with assault weapons there, de Raismes said. Such crimes are extremely rare in Boulder, so the law is not warranted, he said. Plus, outlawing assault weapons in the city would make criminals out of law-abiding gun collectors who safely own assault rifles.
The council could still amend the ordinance to ban assault weapons, though the change would require a another council meeting to give final approval to the ordinance.
The early summer meeting over an earlier draft of the ordinances drew more than 150 people to city hall that evening, with gun-rights supporters outnumbering gun-control backers heavily.
Driving much of the criticism is the belief that such ordinance changes start the city down the slope toward more restrictive gun laws.
That's the concern voiced by Paul Driscoll, manager of Big Horn Trading Co. on 14th Street, one of only two stores in Boulder where guns are sold.
He said customers in his store don't disagree with the kind of safety provisions the council may make law — most gun owners already practice them.
"No one wants to see children getting their hands on guns," Driscoll said, but gun owners are tired of hearing that there are new regulations narrowing their constitutional right to gun ownership.
California and other states have passed several laws that prompted gun makers to stop selling certain models in those states, Driscoll said, and gun owners worry that such legislation could spread.
Contact Greg Avery at (303) 473-1307 or averyg@thedailycamera.com
Copyright 2000 The Daily Camera.
The perceived problem:
"Residents tend to get concerned when they see somebody carrying a gun in the open, and police always respond prepared for an act of violence . . ."
And the solution:
"One change being considered would require gun owners to use cases for carrying guns in public . . . Owners would have to use cases shaped like a gun or clearly marked as a gun case with a label or picture.
So the sight of a real gun is bad, but a picture of a gun is OK. Next some ninny will be offended by the picture. Why not make all gun owners ring a bell and chant "Unclean!" whenever they go outside. Sheesh!
STORY
By Greg Avery
Camera Staff Writer
The fife and drum brigade outside brought flair to the meeting, but protesters accusing Boulder of laying out a welcome mat for murderers and rapists reminded spectators what the issue was.
Guns.
Passions rose at a noisy June 21 Boulder City Council discussion about suggestions for changing local laws governing firearms.
Police say they worried about tensions between gun-control supporters and gun-rights activists, fearing they might spark physical confrontations. That had happened earlier in the year at a University of Colorado appearance by Charlton Heston, president of the National Rifle Association.
Since then, the debate has quieted, and police are less concerned about the threat of violence. On Tuesday, however, proposals to stiffen some gun ordinances come back before the City Council, and another large crowd is expected to fill its chambers.
"We're not expecting any trouble, but we are expecting a lot of people," said City Clerk Alisa Lewis.
Council members will consider and possibly approve six proposed ordinance changes refined from earlier discussions. The measures deal with gun transport, storage and possession by minors within city limits.
The new rules were drafted in response to the April 1999 Columbine High School shootings. Council members asked the staff to see if local laws could be stiffened.
One change being considered would require gun owners to use cases for carrying guns in public, though the change would not apply to guns in cars or to concealed weapons authorized by permit. Owners would have to use cases shaped like a gun or clearly marked as a gun case with a label or picture.
The change, City Attorney Joe de Raismes said, is meant to bring the local laws into accord with Boulder's status as an urban area, not a rural western town where people are accustomed to seeing pistols holstered to a bypasser's belt.
The ordinance was drafted at the suggestion of Boulder police, who were tired of responding — sometimes with a SWAT team — to panicky calls about people carrying guns in public.
Residents tend to get concerned when they see somebody carrying a gun in the open, and police always respond prepared for an act of violence, said Chief Mark Beckner
Beckner
.
"Rather than walk down the street with a gun on your hip and alarming everyone, why not put it in a case?" Beckner said.
The council may also require the safe storage of assault rifles in the city. The proposed ordinance changes would create criminal penalties for any gun owner who fails to safely store a gun that is then used by somebody under 18.
As further incentive for safe storage of guns, Boulder gun owners may get legal protection against civil lawsuits if a gun stolen from them is used in a crime — though the protection would only apply if the weapon was kept in a locked gun safe when it was stolen.
The proposals for safe storage and limits on gun use by minors were intended to prevent situations in which a child may have access to a gun and use it on a friend or classmate.
Another ordinance would bar minors from possessing a gun in the city except when a parent or guardian is present and when hunting, target shooting or safety training is the purpose.
Gun-control activists had asked the city to prohibit keeping assault rifles in the city, as Denver does, but the city attorney's office recommended against enacting such a ban.
Denver's law responded to a rash of shootings with assault weapons there, de Raismes said. Such crimes are extremely rare in Boulder, so the law is not warranted, he said. Plus, outlawing assault weapons in the city would make criminals out of law-abiding gun collectors who safely own assault rifles.
The council could still amend the ordinance to ban assault weapons, though the change would require a another council meeting to give final approval to the ordinance.
The early summer meeting over an earlier draft of the ordinances drew more than 150 people to city hall that evening, with gun-rights supporters outnumbering gun-control backers heavily.
Driving much of the criticism is the belief that such ordinance changes start the city down the slope toward more restrictive gun laws.
That's the concern voiced by Paul Driscoll, manager of Big Horn Trading Co. on 14th Street, one of only two stores in Boulder where guns are sold.
He said customers in his store don't disagree with the kind of safety provisions the council may make law — most gun owners already practice them.
"No one wants to see children getting their hands on guns," Driscoll said, but gun owners are tired of hearing that there are new regulations narrowing their constitutional right to gun ownership.
California and other states have passed several laws that prompted gun makers to stop selling certain models in those states, Driscoll said, and gun owners worry that such legislation could spread.
Contact Greg Avery at (303) 473-1307 or averyg@thedailycamera.com
Copyright 2000 The Daily Camera.
