GOODER AND HARDER, COLORADO: Colorado Democrats aim to ban entire class of semi-automatic weapons.

In one of their first moves of the 2023 legislative session, majority Democrats — who control nearly two-thirds of both chambers — are gearing up to enact a ban on what appears to be the entire class of semi-automatic weapons.

In fact, it may be easier to know what guns would still be legal in Colorado by simply reading one paragraph of the 16-page draft bill, which says a so-called “assault weapon” does not include any firearm that “has been made permanently inoperable; an antique firearm manufactured before 1899; a replica of an antique firearm; a firearm that is manually operated by bolt; pump; lever; slide action, unless the firearm is a shotgun with a revolving cylinder; or a firearm that can only fire rimfire ammunition.”

The bill, embedded at the end of this article, will prohibit anyone in Colorado from “possessing, manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell, or transferring ownership of” a so-called assault weapon. A violation of the new law would be considered a class 2 misdemeanor, but if that weapon is then used in the commission of a felony or a crime of violence the seller could then be charged with a class 6 felony.

David Kopel, an adjunct professor of advanced constitutional law at Denver University’s Sturm College of Law as well as research director of the Independence Institute*, said he doesn’t believe this bill will stand up in court as written.

Hopefully not, but it’s better to not elect Democrats than it is to rely on the courts.