There are several new state-level gun control laws that are set to take effect come January 1, and some are worse than others. A new law set to take effect in Colorado isn’t all that onerous, but it is utterly ridiculous.
Starting next week, juveniles will be prohibited from attending gun shows unless they’re accompanied by their parent or a guardian; a restriction that seems to be both unnecessary and unconstitutional.
I’ve being going to gun shows for decades, and I honestly can’t remember unaccompanied kids wandering around any of them. The closest that I can recall are some teens perusing the aisles of the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, but guns aren’t actually offered for sale there. Does Colorado really a big problem with tweens and teens strolling through gun shows without their parent or guardian around? And if so, what exactly is the problem?
After all, Colorado has universal background checks, even on private transfers, so it’s not like juveniles are actually purchasing any firearms at a gun show. If a 17-year-old wants to drive himself and a few friends to a gun show just to take a look, or maybe to purchase some of the other goods that can be found there, what’s the issue?
While this particular prohibition isn’t likely to impact many folks, it’s part of a larger bill that could prevent some gun shows from taking place at all.
The law requires security plans be submitted to an appropriate law enforcement agency and include monitoring all entrances and exits and providing video surveillance of the gun show parking area and main entrance and exit. It also implements new setting display and storage requirements.
The measure was one of several passed this year by state Democrats aimed at bolstering gun control and safety. The most sweeping initiative, Senate Bill 3, which requires new training and certification for assault weapon purchases, won’t go into effect until August.
The new law bans anyone who’s not a federally (and state) licensed firearms dealer from participating in a gun show as a gun show vendor, as well as imposing those costly new security mandates on gun show promoters. Despite the fact that smaller gun shows may not be able to comply with those mandates and shut down as a result, a legislative analysis of the bill predicted that the changes will not result in any loss of tax revenue… or an prosecutions, for that matter.
This bill creates three new offenses related to unlawful gun show activity, all class 2 misdemeanors for a first offense, and class 1 misdemeanors for subsequent offenses. To form an estimate on the prevalence of these new crimes, the fiscal note analyzed the existing offense of failure to conduct required background checks at a gun show, a class 1 misdemeanor, as a comparable crime. From FY 2021-22 to FY 2023-24, zero offenders have been convicted and sentenced for this existing offense; therefore, the fiscal note assumes that there will be minimalor no additional case filings or convictions for the new offenses under the bill.
If there’ve been no convictions (and likely, no prosecutions) for selling a gun without putting the buyer through a background check, why impose these new requirements at all? Rep. Sean Camacho, who co-authored the bill, claimed before passage that the bill “is about enforcing Colorado state law — laws that we have already passed,” adding that the intent “is to make sure when you are going to a gun show, that it is safe for you and your family and your friends. Many people are already doing this. This bill is about those who are not.”
The legislative analysis suggests every gun show vendor was already in compliance with existing law, which means that under Camacho’s own rationale the new statute is completely unnecessary. Republican lawmakers saw through Camacho’s smokescreen, but given their diminished numbers in the state legislature couldn’t stop Democrats from ramming it through.
“I have veterans that have gun shows that aren’t going to be able to put cameras in parking lots in southeastern Colorado. Hell, they don’t even have a paved parking lot in southeastern Colorado,” said Assistant Minority Leader Ty Winter, a Trinidad Republican.
Republicans argued that the requirements in the bill would limit gun show operations in Colorado and push the vendors to sell at shows in other states.
“Gun shows, in order to be able to continue selling guns, are likely going to say ‘We’re not admitting anyone 18 or younger,’” said Rep. Stephanie Luck, a Penrose Republican who questioned how a promoter could verify a familial relationship. “It will switch from being a family-friendly event and a community-building event with food and quilts and all of the things we heard before, into just selling weaponry.”
The new law isn’t just designed to reduce the number of gun shows. As Luck noted, it’s an attack on the community of lawful gun owners… and on the culture of lawful gun ownership in general.
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