According to Second Amendment experts, Colorado Democrats are pushing a set of gun control bills that resemble measures in liberal states like California. These bills, however, have largely gone unnoticed by the media.
“This should be making national news as it doesn’t just impact Colorado, but the nation as a whole,” Ava Flanell, a firearms instructor in Colorado Springs, told Fox News Digital.
“Lawmakers are using these outrageous bills as blueprints, changing the state names and implementing them across the country at a state level because they don’t have the votes to do it nationally,” she added.
“Last year, it was Washington where they all passed, and the laws are decimating gun stores without a single positive impact on crime. Today, it’s Colorado. These same bills will show up in other states tomorrow if we don’t come together as a whole to fight this,” she continued.
State Democrats are pushing an aggressive gun control campaign this year. Their proposed legislation includes a ban on what are commonly referred to as “assault weapons,” which typically refers to semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15.
They also aim to impose an 11% tax on sales of guns and ammunition, as well as raise the requirements for concealed handgun training courses.
Additionally, one of the bills would forbid gun owners from carrying firearms in designated “sensitive” areas such as parks, banks, and college campuses.
The proposed bills are currently being reviewed by legislators in the state’s General Assembly, where both chambers are controlled by the Democratic Party.
Jared Polis, the governor of the state, is also a Democrat, giving the party a Democratic trifecta in the Centennial State.
In March, the state’s House Judiciary Committee moved forward a bill to ban “assault weapons,” pushing it to the entire House for consideration. With a Democratic majority, it’s expected to recive support in the House.
Among the bills brought forth this year, Flanell expressed concern over the state’s proposal to ban certain types of semi-automatic firearms.
“The so-called ‘assault weapons’ ban bill is the most concerning, but they all have tragic consequences for law-abiding citizens. The ‘assault weapons’ bill is incredibly deceptive. They want to ban not only every kind of ‘scary’ gun like ARs and AKs, but also 80-90% of semi-automatic firearms popular today, including handguns and shotguns,” Flanell said.
She pointed out that the language of the bill is broad, and it would not only prohibit certain firearms but also features like “a foregrip, adjustable stock, pistol grip, barrel shroud.”
“The bill sponsors claim these features increase lethality, when, in fact, they don’t. They’re merely cosmetic. A muzzle brake, which could be interpreted as a compensator, is another characteristic lawmakers have decided to make a firearm ‘more lethal.’ Muzzle brakes are one of the most popular features to tame recoil and are growing in popularity among female shooters, those who lack upper body strength or have physical limitations.”
Antonia Okafor, founder and president of EMPOWERED, a nonprofit dedicated to firearm education, informed Fox News Digital that Colorado’s efforts to ban firearms like AR-15s could significantly increase the vulnerability of women to crime.
“After seven years of training women, it is abundantly clear that women prefer an AR-15 for the defense of their home, their family and themselves,” Okafor, a sexual assault survivor, told Fox News Digital.
“Despite the anti-gun rhetoric pushed by the media and gun control organizations, the AR-15 allows women to have a larger firearm without having to physically absorb as much recoil as a smaller, handheld firearm. The AR-15 makes it easier for those who have a physical disadvantage to have an upper hand against an attacker and creates a larger perimeter of protection. Simply put, a firearm levels the playing field,” she continued.
The legislation, co-sponsored by Democratic state representatives Elisabeth Epps and Tim Hernandez, both from Denver, offers a definition of an “assault weapon.”
According to the bill, it includes “semiautomatic rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine, or that may be readily modified to accept a detachable magazine, and has one or more of the following characteristics,” including features such as a pistol grip or thumbhole stock and “any feature capable of functioning as a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand.”
“The bill defines the term ‘assault weapon’ and prohibits a person from manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell, or transferring ownership of an assault weapon,” the bill’s summary states.
“The bill further prohibits a person from possessing a rapid-fire trigger activator. A person in violation of the prohibitions will be assessed a first-time penalty of $250,000 and $500,000 for each subsequent violation.”
Hernandez stated that if the bill were to pass and become law, it would protect the community from mass shootings.
“The vast majority of Americans and over 80% of Democrats support an assault weapons ban and are fed up with weapons of war in our communities,” Hernandez said after the bill passed through committee.
“My entire childhood, I was afraid to die in school because adults wouldn’t be bold enough on guns, and those fears only grew when I became a teacher and I saw my students struggle with those same anxieties. We must take action to protect our communities, especially our students, from the death and destruction assault weapons inflict on so many innocent people,” he concluded.
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