Assault weapon ban passes Colorado House committee

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) -- The House Judiciary Committee passed HB24-1292, a bill to prohibit the manufacture, import, purchase, or sale of assault weapons and rapid-fire trigger activators. The bill passed by a vote of 7-3.

Starting July 1, 2024, manufacturing, importing, purchasing, or selling assault weapons or rapid-fire trigger activators would be a petty offense.

Exceptions to the bill include:

• U.S. military members, peace officers, or other government officers or agents,
• The manufacture, sale, or transfer of an assault weapon from a licensed firearms manufacturer to the U.S. military or entity that employs peace officers,
• Transfer of an assault weapon to a licensed firearms dealer or gunsmith for temporary maintenance, repair, modification, storage, or permanent disposal.
• Any federal, state, or local historical society, museum, or institutional collection that is open to the public, as long as the assault weapon is securely housed and unloaded
• A forensic laboratory or an agent or employee of the laboratory while on duty
• Armored vehicle entities and their employees, or
• A licensed gun dealer who has a remaining inventory of assault weapons as of August 1, 2024, and sells or transfers the remaining inventory only to a non-Colorado resident and the sale or transfer takes place out of the state.

"HB24-1292 will stem the proliferation of firearms most commonly used in public mass shootings, and takes a powerful step to interrupt the uniquely American epidemic of gun violence. Colorado is home to too many now infamous sites - schools, theaters, nightclubs, clinics, grocery stores - places now forever associated with mass shootings. Prohibiting assault weapon sales is a necessary step to prevent more tragedies; lessening the spread of these weapons is overdue policy change, not just more thoughts and prayers."

Representative Elisabeth Epps | (D) Denver

If signed into law, Colorado will join California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Washington in passing an assault weapons ban.