January 12, 2015 10:55 AM UTC

Vicki Marble’s Pack Heat Everywhere Act

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• by: Colorado Pols

One of the emerging stories as the 2015 Colorado legislative session gets under way is what appears to be a more robust attempt by Republicans and gun-rights activists to repeal the 2013 gun safety bills passed in response to the Aurora shooting and other high-profile gun violence incidents the previous year. In 2014, Republicans introduced a similar slate of legislation repealing basically all of the gun bills passed in 2013, but Democrats weren't budging–and the gun activists' ability to draw huge crowds to the Capitol in opposition to these bills in 2013 failed to materialize in last year's session.

It's possible that gun activists, emboldened beyond all reason by last year's recall elections, were counting on a Republican sweep at the polls in 2014. But with Democrats remaining in control of the Colorado House, both recalled Senate seats retaken by Democrats, and Gov. John Hickenlooper re-elected, it's highly unlikely that we'll see any of 2013's gun safety bills repealed. Whether that hard reality motivates or once again suppresses the gun lobby's activist turnout is yet to be seen, but if their excuse in 2014 was that they were waiting for their electoral triumph…they'll need to keep waiting.

In the meantime, Republican Sen. Vicki Marble, one of the Colorado Senate's least reality-tethered members, isn't waiting to repeal 2013's gun safety bills to charge ahead with her own Rocky Mountain Gun Owners pet priority: doing away with restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons. Check out the summary of Marble's Senate Bill 15-032:

The bill allows a person who legally possesses a handgun under state and federal law to carry a concealed handgun in Colorado. A person who carries a concealed handgun under the authority created in the bill has the same carrying rights and is subject to the same limitations that apply to a person who holds a permit to carry a concealed handgun under current law, including the prohibition on the carrying of a concealed handgun on the grounds of a public elementary, middle, junior high, or high school.

Of course, RMGO is hard at work on the guns on school grounds angle too–just not in this bill. We don't expect Marble's "Guns for Everyone" bill to fare any better than the repeal bills, of course, but the contrast couldn't be clearer between the agendas of the two parties on guns. One is within the mainstream of public opinion on the issue, and one is not. The best way to demonstrate just how far out of the mainstream Sen. Marble's bill is? The National Rifle Association's own polling shows that 74% of NRA members–not just the public, NRA members–believe concealed carriers should complete some kind of gun safety training first.

So who are the reasonable actors here? It's self-evident, folks.