Concealed carry bill clears first committee

Colorado bill would strengthen requirements for concealed carry permits

DENVER (KDVR) — Several gun measures have been introduced at the Capitol over the past week. A bill looking to change Colorado’s requirements to get a concealed carry permit has cleared the House Judiciary committee.

Lawmakers backing the bill said the goal of the measure is to make sure people looking to use concealed carry permits have the proper training to use their guns. Gun rights groups said the bill is not necessary.

“It’s really about common sense, and safety is the bottom line,” said House Majority Leader Monica Duran, prime sponsor of the bill.

Supporters and opponents of the bill came out from across the state to weigh in on the proposal.

“I understood the written part, but then when it came to actually handling the gun itself, that’s when I started to think, well, what’s required in the state of Colorado? And I learned that nothing is required in that sense. You didn’t have to live-shoot, there wasn’t any education updating on current laws … there weren’t any safe gun storage laws at that time,” Duran said.

Colorado concealed carry courses would have new requirements

If the bill becomes law, concealed carry courses would have to be held in person and include instructions about safe storage, information about state and federal gun laws and information about using firearms for self-defense.

Two of the biggest things this bill would do are require the completion of a live-shooting task and a standardized test score of at least 80% for gun owners to be awarded a permit. Both are aspects that gun rights groups fear will deter gun owners who would otherwise carry their firearms.

“The Democrats out here are using this as an opportunity to disincentivize individuals from carrying,” said Ian Escalante, director of operations for Rocky Mountain Gun Owners.

“With increasing the regulation, increasing the difficulty for getting a concealed carry permit on top of some of the other bills that they are pushing — like the sensitive spaces bill, Senate Bill 131 — now it’s going to be harder to get a concealed carry permit, and then on top of that, even if you have a permit, you still won’t be able to carry it 80% of places,” Escalante said, referring to another proposed bill that would prohibit firearms in certain public places. “So this is overall a huge disincentivizing from the Democrats.”

The committee chair said about 100 people signed up to testify on this bill. The measure passed along party lines by a vote of 8-3.