Rep. Weinberg’s constitutional carry bill would give Coloradans rights that 29 other states already have

By / / Top Stories, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice

When the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, written by James Madison, was ratified on Dec. 15, 1791, along with the other Bill of Rights, Americans believed the Founders had provided a right that “shall not be infringed” to own and possess firearms, wherever they may be and however they may wish.

A bill introduced this week in the Colorado House would mostly and finally provide that unrestricted right.

House Bill 25-1164, by Republican Rep. Ron Weinberg, would add Colorado to the growing majority of states with constitutional carry. It is a more long-awaited bill for gun owners than the repeal of the high-capacity magazine law.

Constitutional carry is as it sounds, a right, as intended in the constitution, where anyone who can legally possess a firearm is unrestricted from doing so by the state.

“The bill grants a person, who is at least 18 years of age and permitted to possess a handgun pursuant to federal and state law, the same authority to carry a concealed handgun as a person who holds a permit to carry a concealed handgun,” the bill summary reads.

It would eliminate the perplexing existing law which allows for open carry of a handgun without a permit, but requires a permit to conceal carry the same handgun.

“A person who carries a concealed handgun without a permit has the same rights, limitations and authority to carry as a person who holds a permit,” the bill reads.

Eight states have adopted constitutional carry laws since just 2022, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio and South Carolina, according to the U.S. Concealed Carry Association. Some Southern states passing constitutional carry restored a right that was lost during and after Reconstruction, following the War Between the States. There are 29 states with constitutional carry laws.

Under HB 1164, Colorado would continue to offer a permit to carry for the purpose of carrying out-of-state for those states with reciprocity toward Colorado’s permit. The bill would lower Colorado’s age restriction on reciprocity agreements with other states from 21 to 18 years of age.

Existing concealed carry permits are issued for five years, but under HB 1164 a “permit [is] valid for life,” the bill summary reads. It would convert existing five-year permits to lifetime permits, except for temporary emergency permits.

Local government authority to regulate open or concealed carry of a handgun would be repealed.

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners celebrated the introduction of Weinberg’s bill.

“It is high time Coloradans are able to defend themselves in the Denver crime zone and against Venezuelan gangs without a government permission slip!,” RMGO wrote on Twitter/X.