Colorado governor signs off one of toughest tightening of gun laws in state's history

Colorado signed four gun measures into law Friday in an historic tightening of gun controls.

Governor Jared Polis declared that 'Coloradans deserve to be safe in our communities' as he passed the landmark legislation.

It comes after four mass shootings in the state since 2017 have left a total of 23 dead.

The bills expand ways guns can be seized, make it easier for victims to sue gunmakers, and raise the minimum age and impose a three-day cooling off period on purchases.

But before the ink was dry, gun rights groups sued to reverse the latter two measures.

Governor Jared Polis declared that 'Coloradans deserve to be safe in our communities' as he passed the landmark legislation

The bills expand ways guns can be seized, make it easier for victims to sue gunmakers, and raise the minimum age and impose a three-day cooling off period on purchases

A fifth bill that is expected to pass soon would ban the creation and sale of 'ghost guns' - unserialized firearms that do not require an owner to pass a background check.

The rifle and handgun used by Anderson Lee Aldrich, the non-binary 22-year-old accused of shooting dead five people at a gay club in Colorado Springs in November, are thought to have been ghost guns. 

The liberal, Democrat-run state has suffered from a spate of mass shootings in recent years, sparking lawmakers into action.

As he signed the measures in his office, Polis was flanked by activists wearing red shirts reading, 'Moms Demand Action,' students from a Denver high school recently affected by a shooting, and parents of a woman killed in the Aurora theater shooting in 2012.

Supporters had tears in their eyes and entered rapturous applause as Polis signed each bill.

But Republicans slammed the bills as encroachments on Second Amendment rights that would impede Colorado residents' ability to defend themselves amid a rising statewide crime rate.

'This is simply bigoted politicians doing what bigoted politicians do: discriminating against an age,' said Taylor Rhodes, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, referring to the new age limit on gun purchases. Rhodes said he has confidence in the lawsuits that his group has filed.

The new red flag law, also called an extreme risk protection order, empowers those working closely with youth and adults — doctors, mental health professionals, and teachers — to petition a judge to temporarily remove someone's firearm.

Previously, petition power was limited mainly to law-enforcement and family members.

'If I hear one more time, 'It's not the gun, it's the person' but then you don't support this law, then maybe you don't really mean it,' said Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, a prime sponsor of the bill. 'Because that's what we're addressing here.'

The rifle and handgun used by Anderson Lee Aldrich, the non-binary 22-year-old accused of shooting dead five people at a gay club in Colorado Springs in November, are thought to have been ghost guns. A fifth bill that is expected to pass soon would ban the creation and sale of these weapons in the state

Mourners gathered outside Club Q to visit a memorial, which was moved from a sidewalk outside of police tape that was surrounding the club, in Colorado Springs in November

Derrick Rump (left) and Daniel Aston (right) were among the five killed in the seemingly premediated attack, allegedly carried out by gunman Aldrich, who was armed with an AR-15

Pictured: Investigators at the scene of the Club Q nightclub, which was hosting a drag show when they said Aldrich walked in and opened fire. The club's owners say Aldrich arrived with 'tremendous firepower' - an AR-15 rifle, six magazines of ammo and a handgun

Republicans argued that the law would discourage people — particularly military veterans — from candidly speaking with mental health professionals for fear of having their guns taken.

Questions were raised in the wake of the Colorado Springs shooting over whether authorities should have sought a red flag order to stop Aldrich, who uses they/them pronouns, from buying guns after Aldrich was arrested in 2021 for allegedly threatening their grandparents and vowing to become the 'next mass killer'. 

The law requiring a three-day delay between buying and receiving a firearm — an attempt to curtail impulsive violence and suicide attempts — puts Colorado in line with nine other states, including California, Florida and Hawaii.

Colorado has the sixth-highest suicide rate in the country, with nearly 1,400 in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A RAND Corporation analysis of four studies found that waiting periods are linked to lower suicide-by-gun deaths.

Republicans tried and failed to amend the bill to exempt victims of assault and attempted homicide from the waiting period.

Colorado joins California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, New York and Rhode Island in raising the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21.

Data from the CDC shows gun violence has overtaken car crashes as the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in recent years.

'It's just the truth that young people are far more likely to commit gun violence than their older counterparts,' said Democrat Senator Jessie Danielson, a prime sponsor of the bill.

A 2000 Colorado law - passed around a year after the Columbine High School massacre killed 13 people - gave the gun industry some of the toughest legal protections in the country.

Its requirement that plaintiffs pay defendants' fees in dismissed cases has been scrapped by the new law.

In their speeches about rolling back legal protections for gun manufacturers, lawmakers cited Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, whose daughter, Jessica Ghawi, was slain in the 2012 Aurora theater shooting.

The parents tried to sue the companies that had sold the shooter ammunition and tear gas but were unsuccessful.

The parents ended up owing more than $200,000 in defense attorney fees and had to file for bankruptcy.

California, Delaware, New Jersey and New York have passed similar legislation over the past three years.

Opponents of the bill argued that it would merely bog the firearms industry down in bogus lawsuits.

23 SHOT DEAD IN COLORADO SINCE 2017 

COLORADO SPRINGS, NOVEMBER 2022, 5 DEAD, 19 INJURED

Aldrich, pictured in a sketch on November 23, is accused of killing five people in a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub shooting

Five people were slaughtered and dozens injured at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs after a gunman opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle.

Anderson Lee Aldrich, the non-binary 22-year-old charged over the shooting, ran a neo-Nazi website and used gay and racial slurs while gaming online, police have said.

He also posted an image of a rifle scope trained on a gay pride parade and used a bigoted slur when referring to someone who was gay, Detective Rebecca Joines said.

scanning technology showed Aldrich had been to the club at least six times before the shooting

On the night of the shooting, according to authorities, Aldrich went to the club, left and then returned. Surveillance video showed Aldrich entering the club wearing a red T-shirt and tan ballistic vest while holding an AR-style rifle, with six magazines for the weapon and a pistol visible, police Detective Jason Gasper said. Soon after entering, Aldrich allegedly opened fire indiscriminately.

The shooting was stopped when Navy information systems technician Thomas James grabbed the barrel of Aldrich's rifle, burning his hand it was so hot.

At Aldrich's apartment, investigators found gun-making materials, receipts for weapons and a drawing of the club.

It was also revealed that the rifle and the handgun used in the attack appeared to be ghost guns.

Defense attorneys also brought up Aldrich's mental health for the first time at a hearing in February, showing photographs of pill bottles for drugs that Aldrich had been prescribed to treat mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and PTSD. But the defense didn't say if Aldrich had been formally diagnosed with any of those mental illnesses.

 

DENVER, DECEMBER 2021, 5 DEAD, 2 INJURED

McLeod, 47, owned a tattoo parlor in Denver until 2017. He then relocated to a converted shipping container

A former tattoo shop owner with a history of extremist views and psychiatric episodes shot dead five people in Denver before being shot and killed by officers at the end of his rampage.

Lyndon McLeod, 47, targeted several tattoo shops, and three of his five victims worked in the industry.

Police said they believe McLeod was targeting the people he shot at the tattoo parlors, although they did not release a motive.

Paul Pazen, chief of Denver Police, said McLeod had been on the radar of law enforcement during two recent investigations - one in 2020 and another in 2021 - but neither resulted in charges.

Police said McLeod fired shots at six locations across Denver and the nearby suburb of Lakewood.

His rampage left five people dead and three others wounded - among them a police officer - before he was shot dead.

McLeod sold his house five years ago to a man who said the property was full of gun safes.

 

KING SOOPERS SUPERMARKET, BOULDER, MARCH 2021, 10 DEAD

State experts have concluded that suspected mass shooter Ahmad Alissa, pictured in court on September 7, suffers from a mental health condition and is not competent to stand trial

Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 23, is accused of killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in the college town of Boulder.

Customers, workers and a police officer who rushed in to try to stop the attack were slaughtered.

Alissa, who lived in the nearby suburb of Arvada, surrendered after another officer shot and wounded him, authorities said.

Alissa is charged with murder and multiple attempted murder counts for also endangering the lives of 26 other people. He has not been asked yet to enter a plea and his lawyers have not commented about the allegations.

Investigators have not revealed a possible motive. They said Alissa passed a background check to legally buy a Ruger AR-556 pistol six days before the shooting.

At a hearing in February, his lawyers confirmed he has schizophrenia, with one expert finding he was 'approaching catatonia' before being moved to the state mental hospital for treatment.

 

WALMART IN THORNTON, NOVEMBER 2017, 3 DEAD

Scott Allen Ostrem, 48, admitted fatally shooting three people inside a Denver-area Walmart

Scott Allen Ostrem, 48, admitted fatally shooting three people inside a Denver-area Walmart under a deal that allowed him to avoid execution.

Ostrem strolled into the crowded Walmart with a handgun on Nov. 1, 2017, and killed the three people as they stood in a checkout lane, police said.

No one else was struck by gunfire.

Ostrem fled the store and was arrested outside his apartment the next day after police identified him and his car from images captured by security cameras.

No motive for the shootings was ever presented in court.