Last week, we sent an email detailing some of the proposed changes to local laws for Concealed Carry.
This week the focus is on how we can work to stop these changes from becoming law.
A quick history of these changes is in order. In 2003, Colorado amended concealed carry law to say that State law was the supreme law of the land. No individual jurisdiction could make more restrictive laws. This was challenged many times by cities and counties who wanted to make their own local laws. These challenges were all unsuccessful in the long run. The last major challenge occurred in 2018 when Boulder County banned ‘Assault Weapons’. Boulder county knew that this law would not stand up to the legal challenge, but they fought anyway. The case went before the Colorado Supreme Court and in 2021, the Supreme Court unsurprisingly ruled that the Colorado Preemption laws overruled Boulder’s new gun laws.
One week later, a man walked into a King Soopers in Boulder and started shooting. In the aftermath, a bill to change the Preemption clause in C.R.S. 18-12-201 was quickly brought in front of the state legislature. In 6 short weeks, the law was passed and signed by the Governor.
The pertinent question to ask would be, how did this happen so quickly? The reality is that Colorado is prime target in the nationwide gun control debate. This means that there is a lot of money being spent by national organizations to push gun control in Colorado. These law changes were just waiting for the right opportunity. The Boulder shooting was that opportunity.
The reality of our situation is that one of the only ways to fight the changes happening at the local level is to financially support the organizations that are fighting to hold back these changes. Many people do not want to spend the money to support these organizations and this ends up putting Colorado in a very bad position. Anti Gun organizations know that they have an easy fight in Colorado.
How can you help? The first answer is to get involved. There are organizations such as Rocky Mountain Gun Owners at the state level, and Firearms Policy Coalition at the national level that need both manpower and money to operate. We can also get involved by keeping track of city council meetings, agendas, and local news to be ready to fight when these changes are being proposed. Fighting in the trenches is where a lot of us can help.
EDGEWATER — The Edgewater City Council has significantly scaled back — at least for now — most of what it planned to consider in way of new gun rights restrictions being encouraged by an anti-gun advocacy group, after dozens of residents and others emailed and showed up at an April 19 work session to express their displeasure on possible ordinances targeting gun owners.
https://pagetwo.completecolorado.com/2022/04/24/edgewater-council-gets-earful-scales-back-gun-rights-restrictions/
If you can’t find the time or money to get involved, unfortunately you won’t have any right to complain as the laws change around you. It’s an uphill battle but it’s a fight worth winning. Don’t lose heart, we can win. But we have to get in the fight.
