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Supporters promise fall ballot initiative; 11 bills advance, including ban on straw purchases
By Lynn BartelsDenver Rocky Mountain News Capitol Bureau
Lawmakers defeated a bill Friday that would have required background checks for all buyers at gun shows, setting the stage for voters to decide the issue in November. The House Appropriations Committee killed the proposed law 5-6, outraging gun-control activists, who vowed to get an initiative on this fall's ballot. The House tentatively approved 11 other gun measures, including SB 125, which designates the Colorado Bureau of Investigation as the agency to handle background checks on gun sales. Gov. Bill Owens called it the most important piece of gun legislation he backed. But the loss on HB 1242 was taken hard by supporters, who said it would have closed a loophole that lets people avoid background checks by buying from private sellers at gun shows. "It's by no means over," said Tom Mauser, who became a gun-control lobbyist after his son Daniel was killed last year at Columbine High School. "I think there will be voter fallout from this." Owens said HB 1242 ranked second on his list of gun bill priorities and promised to support the initiative. "I regret the defeat of 1242," he said. "With that, I am inspired that through all the smoke and din of the battle, a number of important bills passed the House today." The bill, by Rep. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, would have expanded the current law so all buyers at gun shows, not just those going through federally licensed firearms dealers, would first have to undergo a background check. Gun-rights groups hated the bill, which they said violated their constitutional rights by getting the government involved in private sales. Although Owens was upbeat, the defeat left observers wondering whether changes to gun laws he and others pushed after the Columbine shooting are dead. Critics say most bills the House passed do little to prevent gun-related crimes. They also are concerned about passage of two bills they say unfairly protect gun owners. One would require local governments to keep confidential the names of concealed-weapons permit holders, and another prevents lawsuits against gun manufacturers. Talk about some intense lobbying. State Rep. Brad Young, R-Lamar, was handed a pink phone message Friday that read "Vote no on gun law." The call was from Susie Bogart, his first-grade teacher. Bogart, now 91, lives in Burlington. Young was clearly tickled at her message and said it was part of the hundreds of e-mails, faxes, phone calls and letters he has received about House Bill 1242, which would have required background checks on all gun-show transactions. Young made his teacher happy. He voted against the bill. -- Lynn Bartels "None of this is significant gun-control legislation," said Rep. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver. The House will take up a third and final reading Monday of the bills passed Friday. But House Majority Leader Doug Dean said lawmakers passed two bills that address one of the biggest post-Columbine concerns. Coloradans were outraged that Robyn Anderson, who bought three of the four weapons the gunmen used in the attack, wasn't charged with any crime. Officials say the high school senior broke no laws when she went to a gun show in 1998 and bought the guns for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, then 17 and too young to purchase the weapons. The House approved bills that would make it illegal to buy guns for minors without their parents' permission or to buy guns for people who are ineligible. Owens backed both measures. Anderson had earlier testified for Gordon's bill, which barely survived a House Judiciary Committee hearing and then was held up in Appropriations for two weeks while the governor futilely searched for two Republican supporters. Gordon didn't endear himself to some Appropriations committee members by displaying a .22-caliber Ruger he recently bought without a background check at a gun show and by using other props that his colleagues blasted as publicity stunts. Voting for the measure were Rep. Steve Tool, R-Fort Collins, and the four Democrats on the committee: Bob Bacon of Fort Collins, Todd Saliman of Boulder, Abel Tapia of Pueblo and Val Vigil of Thornton. Six Republicans opposed it: Debbie Allen, Gary McPherson and Nancy Spence of Aurora, Gayle Berry of Grand Junction, Joyce Lawrence of Pueblo and Gary Young of Lamar. The House also debated a proposal Friday by Rep. Dorothy Gotlieb, R-Denver, that would make state law mirror federal law by requiring someone to be 21 to buy a handgun from a licensed dealer. Private sellers could still sell to 18-year-olds. The bill inititally failed and passed by only one vote when Gotlieb revived it. February 12, 2000
Lawmakers defeated a bill Friday that would have required background checks for all buyers at gun shows, setting the stage for voters to decide the issue in November.
The House Appropriations Committee killed the proposed law 5-6, outraging gun-control activists, who vowed to get an initiative on this fall's ballot.
The House tentatively approved 11 other gun measures, including SB 125, which designates the Colorado Bureau of Investigation as the agency to handle background checks on gun sales. Gov. Bill Owens called it the most important piece of gun legislation he backed.
But the loss on HB 1242 was taken hard by supporters, who said it would have closed a loophole that lets people avoid background checks by buying from private sellers at gun shows.
"It's by no means over," said Tom Mauser, who became a gun-control lobbyist after his son Daniel was killed last year at Columbine High School. "I think there will be voter fallout from this."
Owens said HB 1242 ranked second on his list of gun bill priorities and promised to support the initiative.
"I regret the defeat of 1242," he said. "With that, I am inspired that through all the smoke and din of the battle, a number of important bills passed the House today."
The bill, by Rep. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, would have expanded the current law so all buyers at gun shows, not just those going through federally licensed firearms dealers, would first have to undergo a background check.
Gun-rights groups hated the bill, which they said violated their constitutional rights by getting the government involved in private sales.
Although Owens was upbeat, the defeat left observers wondering whether changes to gun laws he and others pushed after the Columbine shooting are dead. Critics say most bills the House passed do little to prevent gun-related crimes.
They also are concerned about passage of two bills they say unfairly protect gun owners. One would require local governments to keep confidential the names of concealed-weapons permit holders, and another prevents lawsuits against gun manufacturers.
State Rep. Brad Young, R-Lamar, was handed a pink phone message Friday that read "Vote no on gun law."
The call was from Susie Bogart, his first-grade teacher. Bogart, now 91, lives in Burlington.
Young was clearly tickled at her message and said it was part of the hundreds of e-mails, faxes, phone calls and letters he has received about House Bill 1242, which would have required background checks on all gun-show transactions.
Young made his teacher happy. He voted against the bill.
-- Lynn Bartels
"None of this is significant gun-control legislation," said Rep. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver. The House will take up a third and final reading Monday of the bills passed Friday.
But House Majority Leader Doug Dean said lawmakers passed two bills that address one of the biggest post-Columbine concerns.
Coloradans were outraged that Robyn Anderson, who bought three of the four weapons the gunmen used in the attack, wasn't charged with any crime. Officials say the high school senior broke no laws when she went to a gun show in 1998 and bought the guns for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, then 17 and too young to purchase the weapons.
The House approved bills that would make it illegal to buy guns for minors without their parents' permission or to buy guns for people who are ineligible. Owens backed both measures.
Anderson had earlier testified for Gordon's bill, which barely survived a House Judiciary Committee hearing and then was held up in Appropriations for two weeks while the governor futilely searched for two Republican supporters.
Gordon didn't endear himself to some Appropriations committee members by displaying a .22-caliber Ruger he recently bought without a background check at a gun show and by using other props that his colleagues blasted as publicity stunts.
Voting for the measure were Rep. Steve Tool, R-Fort Collins, and the four Democrats on the committee: Bob Bacon of Fort Collins, Todd Saliman of Boulder, Abel Tapia of Pueblo and Val Vigil of Thornton.
Six Republicans opposed it: Debbie Allen, Gary McPherson and Nancy Spence of Aurora, Gayle Berry of Grand Junction, Joyce Lawrence of Pueblo and Gary Young of Lamar.
The House also debated a proposal Friday by Rep. Dorothy Gotlieb, R-Denver, that would make state law mirror federal law by requiring someone to be 21 to buy a handgun from a licensed dealer. Private sellers could still sell to 18-year-olds.
The bill inititally failed and passed by only one vote when Gotlieb revived it.
February 12, 2000
