Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Gun rights

Colorado coded the gun stores. Congress may reverse course
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado coded the gun stores. Congress may reverse course

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project The Feds might put a stop to Colorado's merchant code gun law SB24-006 passed out of the Colorado legislature in 2024 and was quickly signed by Jared Polis. Piercing through the confusing jargon in the bill's fiscal note, it essentially requires credit card companies to tag purchases related to firearms in their systems, in theory to make it easy to spot someone planning a mass shooting. To my knowledge, that has yet to happen. The only outcome thus far that I'm aware of is that the government has leaned on private industry to help them keep track of of constitutionally-protected activity. Per the We the Second post linked second below, a law recently made it out of the Federal House of Representatives ...
Colorado’s New Semiautomatic Firearm Law Takes Effect Aug. 1
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado’s New Semiautomatic Firearm Law Takes Effect Aug. 1

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette A Colorado law passed in 2025 established new requirements for individuals planning to purchase semiautomatic weapons. Here’s what residents should know before Senate Bill 003 goes into effect on Aug. 1. From a ban to a training course For decades, advocates have been pushing for a ban on semiautomatic weapons with detachable magazines, which they have described as “assault weapons,” though efforts escalated following the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. After the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora, the Colorado legislature passed House Bill 1224, which prohibited the sale, transfer and possession of ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds. However, some advocates wanted mor...
Colorado Gun Owners Could Become Decisive Voting Bloc
The Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Gun Owners Could Become Decisive Voting Bloc

By: Chris Dorsey | Commentary, The Gazette That oversight has shaped elections before, and it may do so again.  Donald Trump’s election demonstrated what happens when millions of Americans who view the Second Amendment as a fundamental constitutional liberty conclude that the future of that right is on the ballot. Many constituencies contributed to Trump’s victories, but few matched the discipline, organization, and intensity of gun owners.   The National Rifle Association, despite its well-publicized internal challenges in recent years, remains one of the most influential grassroots political organizations in the country. For decades, it built a political machine that educated members, graded candidates, mobilized volunteers, and reminded voters that el...
New Colorado Firearm Licensing Requirements Draw Constitutional Questions
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

New Colorado Firearm Licensing Requirements Draw Constitutional Questions

By: Mike Krause | Complete Colorado In a recent episode of  Independence Institute’s public affairs tv show, Devil’s Advocate, host Jon Calda sits down with Ray Elliott, president of the Colorado State Shooting Association (CSSA), to look at sweeping new Colorado gun rights restrictions taking effect August 1. The two zero in on Senate Bill 25-003, which slaps heavy new burdens on purchasing many commonly owned firearms, including the popular AR-platform rifle. Elliott lays out the new licensing scheme: prospective buyers of certain firearms must first obtain approval from their county sheriff, pay multiple fees, complete a state-approved firearms training course, and navigate what he describes as an increasingly burdensome financial and logistical barriers for...
How a youth trap shooting story became a debate over gun policy
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

How a youth trap shooting story became a debate over gun policy

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project The Colorado Sun article linked first below is nominally about high school kids, trap shooting, and teaching young ones how to be responsible around guns. The subhead illustrates pretty well: “Schools in mostly rural counties are building high school shooting teams that teach kids discipline, focus, camaraderie — and most important, how to handle a gun safely.” Perfectly fine topic. I like the topic, and I like that the Sun is looking outside the metro area to bring interesting stories back to that region, something that they do regularly if I’m going to be fair to them. If the Sun reporter stayed with the topic of the subhead, if she had focused on what is an unusual sport and how it’s helping youngsters...
Second Amendment Lawsuit Targets Denver Gun Ban and State Magazine Limits
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Second Amendment Lawsuit Targets Denver Gun Ban and State Magazine Limits

By Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette A lawsuit filed in federal court by three Denver residents and two gun rights groups aims to strike down the city’s “assault weapon” restrictions, along with bans on ammunition magazines holding 15 rounds or more. The complaint, filed on June 30 by Ray Elliott, Trevor Alley and Michael Vitco, along with the Firearms Policy Coalition and the Colorado State Shooting Association, an arm of the National Rifle Association, alleges Denver’s semiautomatic firearm ban is unconstitutional, as is its ban on 15-round or larger magazines. Naming the city government, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Attorney General Phil Weiser, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Director Armando Saldate III, Colorado State Patrol Chief Col. Matthew Packard and Denve...
Colorado’s July Laws Reshape Firearm Sales and Wildfire Insurance Rules
kdvr.com, Approved, State

Colorado’s July Laws Reshape Firearm Sales and Wildfire Insurance Rules

By Maddie Rhodes | KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — Several Colorado laws are set to go into effect starting in July. While Colorado laws get passed all the time, the effective date is sometimes delayed to make sure people have time to comply with the law before there are penalties. Usually, several laws go into effect in January at the start of the year and in July, just past the halfway point of the year. In January, laws surrounding gun show requirements and deceptive pricing practices went into effect. Now, laws including the sale of firearm ammunition and property insurance policies are going into effect on July 1. Colorado laws going into effect Here are some of the laws going into effect: New requirements for sale of firearm ammunition House...
Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Federal Gun Ban For Marijuana Users
The Federalist, Approved, National

Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Federal Gun Ban For Marijuana Users

By: Shawn Fleetwood | The Federalist The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held on Thursday that the federal government’s use of a federal law restricting gun possession for certain unlawful drug users to be “inconsistent with the Second Amendment.” “The Second Amendment protects the right of ‘all Americans’ to keep and bear firearms for self defense,” the court’s “narrow” ruling reads. “Affording the government ‘broad power to designate any group as dangerous and thereby disqualify its members from having a gun’ would risk allowing it to ‘quickly swallow’ the Second Amendment.” Known as U.S. v. Hemani, the case centers around the government’s prosecution of Ali Hemani, a Texas resident who was charged under a provision (18 U.S. Code § 922(g)(3)) ...
Colorado Gun Rights Group Challenges New Firearms Dealer Law in Court
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Gun Rights Group Challenges New Firearms Dealer Law in Court

By: Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A firearms group has filed a lawsuit challenging a recently signed law expanding regulations for firearms dealers in Colorado. House Bill 26-1126 clarifies that firearms dealers must hold both a federal and state license to operate. The bill also allows the Department of Revenue to fine dealers up to $100,000 for second or subsequent violations of certain requirements. Additionally, HB 1126 expands record-keeping requirements to apply to all firearm purchases, rather than just pistols and revolvers. It includes certain requirements for gun shops, such as that dealers must safely store large-capacity magazines, have certain security features on all doors and windows and be equipped with an alarm system that includes video s...
Colorado’s Second Amendment deserts: Long drives and fewer gun dealers reshape access
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s Second Amendment deserts: Long drives and fewer gun dealers reshape access

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Colorado’s Second Amendment Deserts -- a two part look If you read as much news as I do, it doesn’t take long to note that Colorado is the land of deserts. There is the desert (the literal one) out where I live on the Eastern Plains, but that’s not all. There are food deserts. There are childcare deserts. There are maternal care deserts. Abortion and transgender care deserts. I don’t know that I have ever read about any Second Amendment deserts here in Colorado, however. A natural question is whether there are any. If a [fill in the blank] desert is a geographical region where something is unduly or unnaturally absent, then a Second Amendment desert would be a region in Colorado where people face either...