May 16, 2009 04:36 PM UTC

Ritter Vetoes Brophy's Stupid Gun Bill

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Denver Post reports:

Gov. Bill Ritter on Friday vetoed a bill that would have allowed Coloradans with concealed-weapons permits to avoid criminal-background checks when they buy guns at shops or shows.

In a veto letter, the governor called House Bill 1180 “troubling” and said it “significantly weakens the safeguards against the illegal purchase of firearms.”

The bill passed with the support of 19 of Ritter’s fellow Democrats in the House and Senate, but Ritter said the measure would have undermined Amendment 22, which voters passed in 2000 after the Columbine shootings and which requires those who purchase firearms at gun shows to undergo criminal-background checks.

Among reasons for vetoing the bill, Ritter argued that because there is no central database of concealed-carry permit holders, local law enforcement may not know whether someone they arrest has a permit, and there can be substantial delays in reporting an offense that could lead to a revocation. He also said there was no way for sellers to verify the validity of a conceal-carry permit…

Angry threats to Bill Ritter from the National Rifle Association and sponsor Sen. Greg Brophy notwithstanding, this was a really stupid bill and no Democrat has offered us a satisfactory explanation for voting for it–most likely a combination of intense lobbying pressure and misinformation.

The idea that the legislature would vote to weaken checks on gun show firearms purchases, literally in the middle of the 10th anniversary of the school shootings at Columbine High School, seemed to us to be remarkably callous from the moment the bill was introduced. We’d say that very few individuals who have gone through the extensive screening required to obtain a conceal weapons permit are going to complain about filling out the same simple form at a gun show that everybody else does. The status quo in this case was just fine–but the change Brophy’s bill sought would have deliberately reopened serious loopholes. Why would you ever do that?

In short, a solution in search of a problem at best–and after listening to Brophy’s “Obama is gonna take your guns” Glenn Beck scare tactics all session, we just don’t find him very, well, credible.

Fortunately, neither did Governor Ritter.