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CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE:

Crushing civil liberties to appease some noisy activists is quite the flex.

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: A price tag on gun rights; Gov. Polis should veto Senate Bill 3.

On March 28, Colorado Senate Bill 25-003 reached Governor Polis’ desk, and if he doesn’t veto this bill within ten days it becomes law, going into effect Aug 1, 2026.

Originally presented as a firearms magazine enforcement bill, Senate Bill 3 has evolved into a far more restrictive piece of legislation these past few months. Despite repeated assurances from its Democrat sponsors—Senator Tom Sullivan, Senator Julie Gonzales, Representative Andrew Boesnecker, and Representative Meg Froelich—that this is not a gun ban, it still is, but now only if you’re underprivileged and can’t afford an eligibility card.

If this bill becomes law, purchasing a semi-automatic rifle, shotgun, or gas-operated handgun would require the following steps:

  • Schedule an appointment with Colorado Parks and Wildlife
  • Undergo a background check by a third party
  • Locate a certified instructor and complete the required training course. A 12-hour class must be taught in two days, not one.
  • Pass a test with a score of at least 90% and be able to demonstrate that you can use the firearm safely. It’s unclear what firearm will be used for this as students cannot purchase a gun before class to bring with them and even if the instructor has a rifle, it most likely won’t be the same as the one they plan to purchase because there are hundreds, if not thousands, of variations.
  • Schedule an appointment with the local sheriff’s office for final approval.
  • Upon receiving approval, when purchasing the firearm, complete another background check and comply with a three-day waiting period.
  • Each step of this process has fees, amounting to at least $300 total to get an eligibility card that is only valid for five years.

    Gov. Polis has yet to indicate whether or not he’ll sign the bill, veto it, or let it go into effect without his signature.

    CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE (COLORADO EDITION): Lawsuit challenges constitutionality of Prop KK guns and ammunition tax.

    Proposition KK — passed in November with 54 percent of the vote — will add a 6.5 percent excise tax on the manufacture and sale of firearms and ammunition. It will be imposed on firearms dealers, manufacturers and ammunition vendors, with the exception of those selling less than $20,000 per year as well as law enforcement agencies and active-duty military.

    The lawsuit was filed on the basis that the tax is unconstitutional because it does not pass a “means-end” test handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2022 Bruen decision. That historical case ruled that gun rights restrictions must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulations.< “The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly held in various contexts that the exercise of a constitutional right cannot be singled out for special taxation,” says the complaint in part, filed on March 31. “Federal legislation to prevent this sort of tax was introduced just days ago in both the House and Senate,” SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb said. “They’re calling it the Freedom from Unfair Gun Taxes Act, and greedy, anti-gun lawmakers in Colorado are probably at least partly responsible for such a bill on Capitol Hill. You simply cannot tax the exercise of a constitutionally-protected fundamental right.”

    Developing…

    CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: New Colorado bill would penalize ‘misgendering’ in public places, use it as justification to take your kids away.

    Here’s what’s at stake if this bill, called the Kelly Loving Act, becomes law:

  • “Deadnaming and Misgendering” as a discriminatory act
    Using people’s biologically correct given names or accidentally using the wrong pronoun could now legally brand you a bigot: “Sections 8 and 9 define deadnaming and misgendering as discriminatory acts in the ‘Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act,’ and prohibit these discriminatory acts in places of public accommodation.”

  • Weaponizing custody battles
  • Parents who refuse to affirm gender confusion could see their rights stripped away in court: “When making child custody decisions and determining the best interests of a child for purposes of parenting time, a court shall consider deadnaming, misgendering, or threatening to publish material related to an individual’s gender-affirming health-care services as types of coercive control.”

  • Gender ideology forced into ALL schools
  • Public, private, and charter schools would have no choice but to comply with laws regarding “chosen names” and would be penalized for “deadnaming” or “misgendering” students.

    Much more at the link and, I’m sure, much more to come from my Democrat-dominated state assembly.

    CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Firearm Due Process Protection Act Will Proceed To The House Floor. “H.R. 2184 is sponsored by Republican Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota’s 6th District, who also serves as House Majority Whip. The bill seeks to provide law-abiding Americans, improperly denied their right to legally purchase a firearm due to administrative errors during a background check, with legal recourse, for which there is shockingly no provision at this time. It is designed to enforce accountability within the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) by mandating finalized decisions on record correction requests within 60 days.”

    CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Colorado Senate Bill 3: Gun licensing scheme much broader than claimed.

    The Colorado legislature is close to final passage of Senate Bill 25-003, to impose one of the most restrictive licensing systems in the nation on many, but not all firearms. Legislators and the public should understand that the bill would apply to all semiautomatic centerfire handguns. The kinds of handguns that Coloradans typically choose—from companies such as Glock, Ruger, or Smith & Wesson—would become much more onerous to purchase.

    Senate Bill 3 seems cunningly written. It purports to apply only to the “gas-operated semiautomatic handgun.” (p. 4). The bill then provides five types of gas operation. Cumulatively, the definitions cover almost every centerfire semiautomatic handgun.

    The bill does not apply to semiautomatics that fire the puny .22 rimfire cartridge.

    There is only one centerfire semiautomatic handgun model that does not fall within the bill’s definitions. That unique item is the Benelli B-80, a collector’s item last manufactured in 1990. The identical gun was produced in six different calibers, model numbers 76 through 82.

    As for every other model of semiautomatic pistol, Coloradans will be forced to navigate their way through one of the most onerous systems in the nation, far exceeding even California’s.

    The new system includes three additional fees on top of the ones already charged to firearms purchasers in Colorado, and none of those fees are capped. Unlike Colorado’s system for issuing handgun carry licenses, no government official has any obligation to make a decision on an application within a time frame.

    That’s a whole lot of infringement.

    CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Colorado House passes bill regulating semiautomatic firearms, banning ‘bump stocks.’

    Opponents of the bill said that the measure would cost millions of dollars for local sheriff’s offices and Colorado Parks and Wildlife to administer the new requirements. Those requirements are one of the following:

    • Complete a hunter education course certified by CPW and within five years of making the purchase, complete a basic firearms safety course
    Within five years before making the purchase, complete an extended firearms safety course, or

    • Complete an extended firearms safety course more than five years before making the purchase and complete a basic firearms safety course within five years before making the purchase

    • To make that happen, sheriff’s offices would be required to issue firearms safety course eligibility cards, with requirements for that card including completion of a fingerprint-based criminal history record check.

    Gov. Jared Polis responded to the bill’s forward movement with a statement from his office.

    “Governor Polis appreciates the sponsors working with our administration on amendments to help make Colorado safer while upholding our freedom and Colorado’s rich hunting and sport shooting culture and will review the final version of the bill,” a Colorado Governor’s Office spokesperson said. “Governor Polis remains focused on improving public safety including gun safety, additional funding for law enforcement and safer streets, and tougher penalties against theft of guns.”

    Polis has been coy about whether he’d sign the bill but the only thing I imagine might stop him would be his presidential ambitions.

    CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Gun ban contortions belie Polis’ ‘Free State of Colorado’ claims.

    Senate Bill 3 would enact the first gun ban in Colorado history, making most semiautomatic guns and rifles, except for select hunting rifles, inaccessible to ordinary Coloradans to manufacture, sell or transfer as of Sept. 1.

    At the eleventh hour in the Senate, progressive Democrats magnanimously carved out an exemption to appease Gov. Jared Polis and promote his “Free State of Colorado” propaganda. Most people who have lived here 10-plus years would surely argue that Colorado is now far less free – except for the freedom to use drugs, pitch a tent, and defecate in public.

    The Polis amendment would allow Coloradans to continue to purchase common handguns and rifles only if these residents navigate a bureaucratic labyrinth which sponsors claim will encourage safety.

    Of course, it does nothing to encourage gun safety among those who don’t care about breaking the law.

    For starters, a Free State of Colorado citizen who wants to buy a specified firearm must seek the local sheriff’s permission and pay a fee just to be considered worthy. The sheriff can either grant that citizen a “Firearms Safety Eligibility Card” or choose not to do so.

    Once this citizen of our free state has the sheriff’s blessing, he or she may then enroll in a government-approved “extended firearms safety course,” including a minimum of 12 hours of instruction over at least two different days. To take this course, a citizen must pay another fee which will be used to maintain a government database of those who have permission to buy a firearm.

    That’s a whole lot of infringement.

    CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Court Strikes Down Illegal Firearms Mandate in Pima County, AZ.

    In a victory for Arizona firearm owners, a state court judge today struck down an illegal law in Pima County that required residents to report lost and stolen firearms to the government within two days…or face $1,000 fines.

    Goldwater had sued the county to stop the mandate on behalf of Air Force veteran Chris King and the Pima County-based Arizona Citizens Defense League. As Goldwater attorneys argued before the Pima County Superior Court today, state law prohibits local governments from regulating firearms or firearm-related conduct unless specifically authorized by the state legislature, and the county Board of Supervisors appeared to know as much when it brazenly passed the ordinance.

    Via Stephen Kruiser, who adds, “The commies who run my county (Pima) are going to keep finding out that messing with gun owners doesn’t work in here the Grand Canyon State.”

    CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: District Court Judge Rules Ban on Machinegun Ownership Unconstitutional Under Bruen. “The United States had charged Justin Brown with possession of an unregistered machinegun. Mr. Brown objected to the charge based on the fact that he’s a lawful firearm owner and claimed that the ban on machinegun ownership is unconstitutional. In his ruling, Judge Carlton Reeves, an Obama appointee, made no bones at all about the fact that he hated what he was doing, but under Bruen — of which he is also not a fan — the law is very clear.”