Coloradan's by and large DO NOT support more gun control, as adequately evidenced by vocal opposition at the Colorado legislature thus far this month. As I am sure you are aware, the statistics and studies are clear that the currently proposed gun control efforts will have little to no effect on crime or gun violence. Rather, such efforts are an affront to “inalienable rights” that government is charged with protecting and defending, not infringing upon, and further make us all less safe by reducing our abilities to defend ourselves when the closest police officer may be on the telephone, not at the scene. The proposed gun control measures which will be before the Senate tomorrow for your consideration and vote are therefore little more than window dressings designed to make people feel good, that we are “doing something”, even if that something is destructive to our liberties as human beings and of no use in deterring the crime we fear.
Certainly, gun violence is a sad commentary on the current state of our society, but it is not law-abiding gun owners who are the perpetrators of such violence. Murder is already illegal – criminals nonetheless commit murder, with guns, and with other tools as well. Criminals will continue to traffic in “illegal” magazines, criminals will continue to acquire weapons on the “black market”, whether banned or not, and without submitting to background checks. The moving target of who may or may not be mentally ill is a frighteningly slippery slope, and one we should not venture upon. I personally understand the despair and anger that gun violence can inspire – my friend Mark Hummels died in Phoenix just over a month ago from gun violence, leaving a wife and two young children behind, and depriving the rest of us of his wit, charm and intellect, but I have little doubt that none of the measures proposed below would have saved Mark’s life. Mark’s killer acquired his weapons legally, he underwent the requisite background checks, he fired fewer rounds than any magazine restriction would have imposed, he had no history of mental health issues/diagnoses… Regardless of what obstacles this killer may have faced, legal or otherwise, with murder in his heart, he killed. I therefore fully understand these desires to “do something”, but what we should not do is to enact unconstitutional legislation that does nothing to solve the problem. What we must do as a society is try to change the culture of violence that we seem to have engendered, and teach our children of other ways to solve problems, while maintaining our rights to defend ourselves from those outliers of society always predisposed towards crime.
Colorado is not New York, and even there, fair minded judges are questioning the constitutionality of similar gun control efforts before they can even come into effect. Resist the desire to “do something”, and instead do the right thing. Vote no on ineffective efforts to stem violence, and maintain the rights of law-abiding citizens to protect and defend themselves from those who would do us harm. Please, vote no on:
• SB-195: Prohibiting Colorado citizens from taking online CCW training courses.
• SB-196: a De Facto "Assault Weapons" ban, which could potentially include many common semi-automatic weapons utilized in hunting and self-defense.
• HB-1224: Banning all magazines capable of holding greater than 15 rounds.
• HB-1226: Banning armed self-defense on college campuses – the statistics are clear that mass shooting ALWAYS take place in environments where the killers know no one is armed and can resist, by operation of law.
• HB-1228: Imposing random and limitless taxation on firearm related purchases, as well as background check charges.
• HB-1229: Attempting to ban the private sale of firearms and expanding background checks/gun registration for all Colorado gun owners – this measure is virtually unenforceable, and would do nothing to stop crime, it rather would simply make criminals out of law-abiding citizens trading in firearms.
Thank you for your thoughtful consideration on these important issues.
Chris Cummins – lifelong Colorado resident.
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