http://www.denverpost.com/news/leg/leg0125a.htm
NRA wins first round of gun debate
By Mike Soraghan
Denver Post Capitol Bureau
Jan. 25 - Round one went to the National Rifle Association Monday in the Colorado Legislature's gun debate.
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee defeated the two Democratic gun-control bills they considered. And three Democrats joined with a conservative Republican to weaken the state's criminal background check - another NRA win.
It was the first day in a week of marathon hearings that will give an early hint of what the Legislature is going to do on guns in the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre in suburban Denver. Today, the committee is expected to look at gun-rights bills.
"So far, so good," said Bill Dietrick, legislative director for the Colorado State Shooting Association, the state chapter of the NRA.
But gun-control supporters and the administration of Gov. Bill Owens say the battle is far from over.
"This was just an opening round," said Tom Mauser, who started lobbying for gun control after his son was killed at Columbine.
"There's lots more to be done." Mauser said he thinks the Republicans who control the Legislature will not want to embarrass Owens, a fellow Republican. Owens has put forward a package of middle-of-the-road gun proposals aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and children.
Owens' point man on guns, his Department of Public Safety chief Ari Zavaras, said he's not yet worried.
"There's still a lot of bills to come," Zavaras said. "I think the majority of legislators will see that what the governor has proposed is sensible." Zavaras laid out to the committee Monday specifically what Owens wants, but did not endorse any bills.
He said Owens wants people who buy guns at gun shows to undergo criminal background checks. He wants to make it illegal for anyone under 21 to buy a handgun at a gun show. He wants local authorities, not just federal prosecutors, to be able to prosecute people who buy guns for criminals or children. He wants to include juvenile records in all criminal background checks.
And he wants to require parents to safely store guns in their homes, though he does not support anything that would tell them exactly how to do that.
For example, Zavaras said, "He does not support trigger locks." The two gun-control bills defeated Monday, SB 89 and SB 166, contained elements of what Owens wants, but went well beyond the governor's plan. A bill by Sen. Rob Hernandez, D-Denver, to raise the age for buying a handgun also would have required a background check on every gun sale or transfer in the state. Sen. Pat Pascoe's bill to require safe storage is similar to the one Owens co-sponsored with the Denver Democrat in 1992 when he was in the Legislature. But it also would ban the sale of assault weapons and large ammunition clips to minors.
The defeat came despite emotional testimony from survivors of gun violence. Erin Flynn, a sopho more at Columbine who said she lost two close friends in the massacre last April, fought back tears as she asked the lawmakers to take a stand against gun violence.
"On April 20, I heard a sound that no student should ever have to hear - gunshots in my school hallway," Flynn said between sniffles. "Columbine showed the effects of gun violence and the pain and the grief that is caused by it. This bill will help reduce gun violence and therefore reduce needless pain and suffering."
Four of the eight members of the committee have received a total of at least $2,200 in campaign contributions from the NRA since 1992. Zavaras also said Owens wants to reinstate the state's instant criminal background-check program, and he wants it kept the same as it is.
The issue is what the Colorado Bureau of Investigation does if it finds a potential gun buyer has an arrest record, but can't tell if he or she was convicted.
Currently, the CBI will block the sale until the person can prove he wasn't convicted, and that's how Owens and Zavaras want to keep it. The NRA says that's unfair, even unconstitutional.
Zavaras noted that during the four months last year when the state's program was shut down, the FBI background check approved 67 sales to people who weren't supposed to have guns. He noted that police officers have to go back and take them away - a dangerous assignment.
CBI officials say that if the NRA gets its way, the state check will be no different than the federal check.
Sen. Ken Arnold, a Republican from Westminster, proposed adding the "deny on arrest" provision to a bill reauthorizing the state's background check. He was supported by three other Republicans on the committee. But the three Democrats, along with Sen. John Andrews, R-Englewood, shot it down.
One Democrat said there was confusion about what Arnold was trying to do.
"There needs to be more leadership," said Sen. Dorothy Rupert, DBoulder. "I couldn't tell for sure what it did. I don't want to make it less than we had, and I think we did."
But Sen. Bill Thiebaut, D-Pueblo, said Arnold's proposal was unclear. "I'm not sure that the sponsors know what it does."
Copyright 1999-2000 The Denver Post. All rights reserved.
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Nevada alt C.A.N.
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
NRA wins first round of gun debate
By Mike Soraghan
Denver Post Capitol Bureau
Jan. 25 - Round one went to the National Rifle Association Monday in the Colorado Legislature's gun debate.
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee defeated the two Democratic gun-control bills they considered. And three Democrats joined with a conservative Republican to weaken the state's criminal background check - another NRA win.
It was the first day in a week of marathon hearings that will give an early hint of what the Legislature is going to do on guns in the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre in suburban Denver. Today, the committee is expected to look at gun-rights bills.
"So far, so good," said Bill Dietrick, legislative director for the Colorado State Shooting Association, the state chapter of the NRA.
But gun-control supporters and the administration of Gov. Bill Owens say the battle is far from over.
"This was just an opening round," said Tom Mauser, who started lobbying for gun control after his son was killed at Columbine.
"There's lots more to be done." Mauser said he thinks the Republicans who control the Legislature will not want to embarrass Owens, a fellow Republican. Owens has put forward a package of middle-of-the-road gun proposals aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and children.
Owens' point man on guns, his Department of Public Safety chief Ari Zavaras, said he's not yet worried.
"There's still a lot of bills to come," Zavaras said. "I think the majority of legislators will see that what the governor has proposed is sensible." Zavaras laid out to the committee Monday specifically what Owens wants, but did not endorse any bills.
He said Owens wants people who buy guns at gun shows to undergo criminal background checks. He wants to make it illegal for anyone under 21 to buy a handgun at a gun show. He wants local authorities, not just federal prosecutors, to be able to prosecute people who buy guns for criminals or children. He wants to include juvenile records in all criminal background checks.
And he wants to require parents to safely store guns in their homes, though he does not support anything that would tell them exactly how to do that.
For example, Zavaras said, "He does not support trigger locks." The two gun-control bills defeated Monday, SB 89 and SB 166, contained elements of what Owens wants, but went well beyond the governor's plan. A bill by Sen. Rob Hernandez, D-Denver, to raise the age for buying a handgun also would have required a background check on every gun sale or transfer in the state. Sen. Pat Pascoe's bill to require safe storage is similar to the one Owens co-sponsored with the Denver Democrat in 1992 when he was in the Legislature. But it also would ban the sale of assault weapons and large ammunition clips to minors.
The defeat came despite emotional testimony from survivors of gun violence. Erin Flynn, a sopho more at Columbine who said she lost two close friends in the massacre last April, fought back tears as she asked the lawmakers to take a stand against gun violence.
"On April 20, I heard a sound that no student should ever have to hear - gunshots in my school hallway," Flynn said between sniffles. "Columbine showed the effects of gun violence and the pain and the grief that is caused by it. This bill will help reduce gun violence and therefore reduce needless pain and suffering."
Four of the eight members of the committee have received a total of at least $2,200 in campaign contributions from the NRA since 1992. Zavaras also said Owens wants to reinstate the state's instant criminal background-check program, and he wants it kept the same as it is.
The issue is what the Colorado Bureau of Investigation does if it finds a potential gun buyer has an arrest record, but can't tell if he or she was convicted.
Currently, the CBI will block the sale until the person can prove he wasn't convicted, and that's how Owens and Zavaras want to keep it. The NRA says that's unfair, even unconstitutional.
Zavaras noted that during the four months last year when the state's program was shut down, the FBI background check approved 67 sales to people who weren't supposed to have guns. He noted that police officers have to go back and take them away - a dangerous assignment.
CBI officials say that if the NRA gets its way, the state check will be no different than the federal check.
Sen. Ken Arnold, a Republican from Westminster, proposed adding the "deny on arrest" provision to a bill reauthorizing the state's background check. He was supported by three other Republicans on the committee. But the three Democrats, along with Sen. John Andrews, R-Englewood, shot it down.
One Democrat said there was confusion about what Arnold was trying to do.
"There needs to be more leadership," said Sen. Dorothy Rupert, DBoulder. "I couldn't tell for sure what it did. I don't want to make it less than we had, and I think we did."
But Sen. Bill Thiebaut, D-Pueblo, said Arnold's proposal was unclear. "I'm not sure that the sponsors know what it does."
Copyright 1999-2000 The Denver Post. All rights reserved.
------------------
Nevada alt C.A.N.
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
& would've banned even hunting on school board land which is currently leased to state for use as semi-state wildlife areas. Cheeky baastads.