Colorado Governor Signs Tough Gun Control Laws
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed some of the toughest gun legislation in the country into law today, according to an MSNBC report. The measures set ammunition magazine limits to 15 rounds and eight shotgun shells, while expanding background checks on firearms to sales and transfers between private parties and online purchase. It will also require gun purchasers to foot the bill on the checks, the article reports.
The laws will go into effect July 1.
State Republicans see the measures as a gun grab and a “knee-jerk” reaction to recent shootings in Connecticut and Colorado. GOP House leader Mark Waller says that Colorado Republicans are “disappointed” and maintain that Colorado Democrats are passing these laws “without any proof that banning this is going to have any impact on public safety.”
The legislation comes just hours after the state’s executive director of the Department of Corrections, Tom Clements, was shot and killed in his home Tuesday night. Gov. Hickenlooper called this incident “an act of intimidation” that would not deter the Colorado legislature from going forward, MSNBC reports.
Still outstanding in the Colorado legislature are Senate laws banning online certification for concealed-carry permits and a measure that would bar gun purchases for domestic violence offenders, the article says.
A Keating Research poll found that 80 percent of Coloradans agreed with expanded background checks, and 61 percent supported magazine limits.
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