Colorado lawmakers propose bill mandating gun owners lock up firearms at home

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A bill introduced in Colorado would create a law requiring all firearms to be secured when not in use.

House Bill 1106, known as the Safe Storage Of Firearms bill was introduced last year but didn't advance due to COVID-19. This year, Democrats believe it will pass, which is something Second Amendment advocates fear is true.

The bill, if approved, would require any firearm in a gun owner's home to be secured either in a safe or in its case with some sort of locking mechanism while not in use. Failure to comply would result in a class two misdemeanor.

In addition to strict storage guidelines for gun owners, this bill puts gun shops on the hook as well. Failure to provide a gun lock with any firearm purchase would result in a maximum $500 fine.

"The goal is to try and change behavior and stop the accident from happening in the first place,” says Representative Kyle Mullica with District 34 and also one of the sponsors of this bill. "I own a firearm, I'm a hunter," Mullica says. "I believe in the right to protect your family in your house but I also think that with owning a firearm comes a great responsibility."

He says this bill was written after a study done by Children's Hospital of Colorado found there was an average of one shooting-related injury for those zero to 19-years-old and one death every week. Most of those deaths occurring in teens who used a firearm not belonging to them to commit suicide.

Mullica says, "We believe this bill will end that trajectory and help save lives and that's why we are fighting so hard for it."

Others are fighting hard against it, like Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, a non-profit gun rights advocacy group in Colorado.

"This [bill] is nothing more than politicians trying to turn law-abiding gun owners into criminals," says executive director Taylor Rhodes. One concern RMGO has is if someone breaks into a gun owner's house in the middle of the night, they won't have time to unlock their firearm. But Mullica says that is addressed in the bill.

"This doesn't apply if the weapon or firearm is on-person or within reach," Mullica says.

Enforcement is another aspect advocacy groups say will be impossible to implement. But their biggest critique is that this bill goes hand-in-hand with another they opposed and even filed a lawsuit against, the Red Flag law.

"The way we are looking at this is it's a tack on to the red flag bill in 2019," Rhodes says. "Say that someone that was red-flagged, their guns weren't locked up properly they would then charge them with this crime."

This Monday, there will be a committee hearing for the bill where the public will have its voice heard. Rhodes anticipates a big turnout from those who will speak against it.