By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
A young woman in her twenties stood outside Rep. Scott Bottoms’ church recently and asked him for help—she needed a firearm. Not for sport. Not to make a point. For protection.
“She was worried, she was frightened… She had no way to protect herself,” Bottoms said during a House Republican press conference Wednesday. “She has to wait three days. She can’t even get her own firearm to protect herself.”
That delay, he argued, could be the difference between safety and tragedy.
It’s the kind of real-life scenario House Republicans say they had in mind when they gathered on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol the morning of April 16 to speak out against SB25-003.
At the press conference, lawmakers said they’ve sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, with a request for a constitutional review of the law.
Signed last week by Gov. Jared Polis, the law requires a permit — and safety training, which must be completed prior to purchasing certain firearms. It adds to existing rules, including a three-day waiting period passed in 2023.
“Senate Bill 25-003 contains vague definitions… terms like ‘standard rate of fire,’ completely lacking clear meaning that could lead to arbitrary enforcement,” Bottoms said.
Rep. Carlos Barron raised similar concerns, pointing to families in high-crime areas who may not have time or money to complete multiple layers of paperwork, classes and fees.
“She works two jobs, lives in a high-crime area, and does everything she can to provide for her kids,” Barron said of a single mother in his district. “She doesn’t have extra time or money for application fees, background checks or waiting weeks for approval.”
Supporters say the law promotes public safety. House Republicans say it burdens people who follow the law while doing little to stop those who don’t.
“Only the affluent and rich will be able to have the right to defend themselves,” said Assistant Minority Leader Ty Winter. “To put a paywall in front of that right is egregious and it’s wrong.”
Republicans also pointed to how the legislative process played out. Before the bill passed, House and Senate Republicans tried to introduce a resolution that would’ve allowed the Colorado Supreme Court to weigh in on the constitutionality of the law.
“Senate Democrats refused to even introduce the resolution,” Bottoms said.
House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese agreed. “If we weren’t worried about the constitutionality, I don’t know why House and Senate Republicans were blocked from being able to ask the question,” she said.
With that route closed, Republican lawmakers say they’ve now submitted a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, asking for federal review under the U.S. Constitution.
When asked why the GOP caucus doesn’t file its own lawsuit, Pugliese emphasized they won’t use public funds to do that. “We as House Republicans are not going to use taxpayer money to file a lawsuit,” she said. “All we’re asking for is a review of the constitutionality under the U.S. Constitution.”
Winter emphasized that this isn’t just about one law. “This isn’t blue versus red. These are American issues,” he said. “Without the Second Amendment, you don’t have the First Amendment. You lose that much later after.”
Barron added that most Coloradans have no idea what’s being passed under the gold dome, and said it’s the responsibility of lawmakers to make them aware.
Bottoms agreed. “It’s laws like SB25-003, and many others, that are completely unconstitutional, completely egregious, and are putting more and more people in harm’s way.”
For one young woman outside a church in Bottoms’ district, that risk was already real.
“She just wanted to protect herself,” he said. “She had no other way.”
A copy of the letter House Republicans sent to Attorney General Bondi can be accessed here.