Colorado Governor Signs Four Gun Control Bills Into Law

May 2, 2023

Governor Polis signed bills to expand Colorado’s “Red Flag” Gun Confiscation law, raise the minimum age to purchase guns, impose a three-day waiting period for firearm purchases, and allow citizens to sue gun manufacturers.

  • “Red Flag” Gun Confiscation (SB 170)

Passed in 2019, Colorado’s “Red Flag” law has allowed family members and law enforcement to petition a judge in an ex parte hearing, allowing lawfully-owned firearms to be confiscated.

Such laws have proven deadly to both civilians and law enforcement in states with “Red Flag” laws on the books.

SB 170 expands Colorado’s “Red Flag” law to allow health care providers, mental health providers, district attorneys and teachers to petition a judge to confiscate someone’s firearms.

Such law is ripe for abuse and sets a “guilty until proven innocent” precedent on gun owners.

  • Raising Minimum Age to Purchase a Gun (SB 169)

The new law comes with a misdemeanor for those who sell guns to someone younger than 21 and is already being challenged in court.

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO) has filed suit to challenge this eronious law that disarms 18 to 20 years old who wish to buy a gun for sport, recreation, or even self-defense.

  • Three-Day Waiting Period (HB 1219)

Such legislation requires purchasers of a firearm to wait three days after purchasing a gun before they can take possession.

This limits options for those in need of a self-defense weapon, like single mothers with abusive ex-partners.

What’s worse, this legislation also allows local governments to impose longer waiting periods for gun purchasers.

  • Making it Easier to Sue Gun Manufacturers (SB 168)

In 2000, Colorado passed a law that granted civil legal protections to the firearm industry, which required plaintiffs to pay defendants’ attoneys’ fees in all dismissed cases, and only allowed people to bring product liability lawsuits against gun makers, sellers, and importers.

SB 168 eliminates the requirement that plaintiffs automatically pay the legal fees of gun industry defendants when cases are dismissed and it makes the industry susceptible to lawsuits under Colorado’s Consumer Protection Act.

RMGO filed lawsuits challenged the waiting period and minimum age requirements moments after the bills were signed into law.

Taylor Rhodes, Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners said this about the newly filed lawsuits:

“We’re talking about constitutional freedoms here, we’re talking about things that are guaranteed by God and enshrined by our government. We believe we have two slam dunk lawsuits that we will easily win.”

Read more at Colorado Sun.

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