When anti-gun Colorado Democrats removed some key provisions in House Bill 1144—a measure that would have made it a crime to build guns or gun parts by using a 3D printer—advocates for the bill told news agencies they would come back next year to fill the gaps.
The problem came up, according to published reports, when Gov. Jared Polis indicated he would veto the legislation. Polis, a Democrat, is term-limited out this year.
The Summit Daily is reporting that state Sen. Tom Sullivan, one of the state’s most vocal gun control advocates, “signaled that he would try again to pass a ban on 3-D printing instructions next year after Polis leaves office.”
Sullivan’s son was a victim of the mass shooting at the Aurora movie theater in 2012. The killer in that incident had planned his attack well in advance. It did not involve a 3D-based firearm.
Likewise, the Colorado Sun quoted Sen. Katie Wallace (D-Longmont), saying she looks forward to “fighting another day” for the legislation.
Translation: Centennial State gun prohibitionists expect to elect another anti-gun Democrat as governor this fall, and they will wait until that person takes office in 2027 to press for the full measure of what they want.
If there was ever an acknowledgement—without a flat-out admission—by Democrats they are the party of gun prohibition, this would be it.
Under the edited version of the bill, it would still be a Class I misdemeanor to build a gun with a 3D printer, which could land someone in jail and subject to fines. A second offense would be a Class 5 felony, with fines and prison time, as noted by the Colorado Sun.
The Summit Daily also quoted Republican Rep. Zamora Wilson of Colorado Springs, who asserted the measure is “highly vulnerable to constitutional challenge.” That hasn’t stopped Democrats from pushing the bill, or indicating they will come back next year to finish what they started.
Polis apparently opposed a provision in the legislation to ban distribution of digital printing instructions.
Colorado is not the only state where Democrats have been showing their increasing penchant for tightening down on Second Amendment rights.
For example, it has gotten so bad in Virginia with the passage of several gun control measures under new Gov. Abigail Spanberger that the Williamsport, Pa. Sun-Gazette editorialized against Virginia’s rush to adopt new restrictions.
“We believe a greater focus by policy makers on criminals, and especially recidivist criminals, will improve American safety far more than creating bureaucratic hurdles and arbitrary limitations on law-abiding men and women,” the editorial observed. “The impulse to encroach on Americans’ right to own firearms still seems to be joined at the hip to other unfortunate impulses — dismissiveness to other cherished Constitutional rights and derision for the role thoughtful, nuanced debate and compromise plays in the legislative process among them.”
Out in Washington state, Seattle Red reported how Gov. Bob Ferguson, who has an anti-gun track record, “moved quickly to sign House Bill 2521, which strips the existing cap on fees the Washington State Patrol can charge for firearm background checks. The bill also expands the scope of what those collected fees may be used for.”
Likewise—and evidently not as reluctant as his colleague in Colorado—Gov. Ferguson signed House Bill 2320, which does prohibit the use of 3D printing to manufacture firearms and parts which are prohibited or restricted by existing statute. This 31-page measure also bans possession of digital instruction files.
The Washington Legislature is controlled by Democrats, who have adopted increasingly restrictive gun control laws in recent years, drawing several lawsuits.
But Ferguson and Democrats may have a bigger problem with Evergreen State voters, thanks to his signing of a new income tax measure Monday. The Seattle Times makes it clear legal challenges are expected.
And the Lynnwood, Wash. Times quickly posted on Facebook that legal action is being prepared by former Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna. It may be taxes, not gun rights, which bring voter involvement in this fall’s elections in the state. Like state gun laws, the argument against this new “millionaire tax” is that it is unconstitutional.
Politics could make “strange bedfellows” this year, with various interests at play in Colorado, Washington and elsewhere.
Virginia Gun Control Push Puts Spanberger on Collision Course with Gun Rights Groups
WA Dems Ram Through Background Check Fee Hike, Sheriff Silencing Bills
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
