Ballot Initiatives In Colorado Underscore Gun Control Battle

Activists on both sides of the gun control battle are planning ballot initiatives – and underscore the fact that guns are back not only at the top of the political debate heap in Colorado but also at the national level.

The battle over gun control in Colorado may be headed directly to voters this year after activists on both sides of the fight filed proposals for new ballot measures. Two of the proposals would effectively overturn all of the gun legislation signed into state law last year.

While one measure would seek to limit concealed weapons on public colleges and universities in the state, another initiative would overturn the ban on ammunition magazines holding over 15 rounds.

Republican activists Tom Lucero and Patrick Davis, of Larimer County and Colorado Springs, respectively, filed a proposal to “prohibit any restriction on the purchase or possession of ammunition storage and feeding devices other than a restriction enacted by a voter-approved law.”

Another initiative would rescind all the gun legislation passed in 2013 and mandate that any future bills limiting gun rights be decided by voters. It was proposed by Tea Party activist Mike Holler and local attorney Anne Gill, who was previously involved in 2006 litigation over Denver’s local firearms ordinances.

Last week, Republican House Leader Rep. Brian DelGrosso announced that his party would also introduce a bill in the Legislature to repeal the 15-round magazine limit, but Democrats hold a wide majority in the House and a slim majority in the Senate and will make it difficult for the measure to pass.

By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.