If you thought Colorado's red flag law was bad enough already, wait until you hear what the anti-gun crowd has cooked up this session. As someone who runs a gun shop and talks to customers every day, I can tell you: this is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night.
Colorado Democrats are pushing a slate of bills that would make life harder for law-abiding gun owners and shops alike. First up: requiring background checks on the sale of gun barrels. That's right—now even individual parts would trigger the same background check process as a complete firearm. For my customers who build their own rifles or want to customize their setups, this means more waiting, more paperwork, and more hassle.
But they're not stopping there. The legislation would also ban making gun parts with a 3D printer and make it a crime to share computer files for printing those parts. Three-D printing has been a game-changer for hobbyists and tinkerers, and now the state wants to make it a felony just to have the wrong files on your computer. That's the kind of law that sounds good in a press release but criminalizes normal people who haven't done anything wrong.
Gun store owners aren't getting off easy either. More regulations and paperwork requirements are headed our way, which means higher compliance costs that will inevitably get passed along to customers.
And here's the real kicker: they're expanding the red flag law to let institutions—businesses, schools, whatever—file for Extreme Risk Protection Orders. Right now, only family members or law enforcement can request these. Soon, some bureaucrat at a corporation could decide you're too risky to own firearms and get a judge to take them away without you ever setting foot in a courtroom.
Red flag laws sound protective on paper, but they let government take your property and rights based on someone's accusation, not evidence of a crime. Add in the institutional filing provision, and you're looking at weaponized harassment waiting to happen.
If you're a Colorado gun owner who's tired of watching your rights get chipped away, now's the time to contact your representatives and let them know these bills aren't acceptable.