By: José Niño

Colorado elected officials have been very busy passing gun control in 2021.

According to Saja Hindi of the Denver Post, six gun control bills have been passed in recent months.

Just this week, the Colorado House approved HB21-1298, a bill to tighten the state’s current system of universal gun registration. The Senate passed this bill in late May.

This move was part of a series of gun control bills that Democrat-elected officials introduced in the aftermath of the Boulder King Soopers shooting. The other bills that will arrive on Gov. Jared Polis’ (D) desk are SB21-256, a bill to empower local governments by allowing them to pass stricter gun control laws than the state currently has, and HB21-1299, a bill that would establish an Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

Republicans in both the House and Senate opposed these gun control bills on the grounds that they empower criminals by leaving the law-abiding defenseless against them.

State Rep. Dave Williams of Colorado Springs views these bills as unconstitutional overreaches and asserted, “All these measures do is punish law-abiding citizens who want to defend themselves and they empower criminals who endanger our neighborhoods.”

Prior to the passage of HB21-1298, Polis signed HB21-1106 into law, a “safe storage” bill that intends to prevent unauthorized individuals from accessing firearms. Critics believe this law will impede lawful gun owners’ ability to access their firearms quickly in confrontations with home invaders.

The latest news is part of a broader trend of anti-gun legislation breezing through the Colorado General Assembly over the past few years. Since Democrats were able to pass universal gun registration and a magazine ban in 2013, gun control has become embedded in Colorado politics. In 2019, Colorado boosted its civilian disarmament credentials by passing a red flag gun confiscation order.

HB21-1298’s inevitable passage will only solidify the state as an anti-Second Amendment bastion. At the present, Colorado received a dismal 40th place per Guns & Ammo magazine’s Best States for Gun Owners rankings. With gun control being passed with relative ease, Colorado will continue its anti-gun decline.

At this juncture, Coloradans in rural counties should strongly consider pursuing nullification measures, with teeth, that ignore state level gun control. This is one way Second Amendment supporters can regroup and voice their displeasure with Denver’s anti-Second Amendment regime. The Colorado General Assembly seems to be in firm Democrat control for the time being.

José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Sign up for his mailing list here. Contact him via Facebook, Twitter, or email him at [email protected]. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control, here.