In Colorado a new law has been passed that requires a Colorado resident to have a Colorado CCW. Out of state CCW's held by Colorado residents will no longer be honored. Reading the language of the senate version of the bill (.pdf) it seems to require that a permit holder be a resident of the state that issued the permit. It also contains a provision to keep CCW holders names in a database available to law enforcement which would lead me to believe it was amended with this bill from the senate (.pdf). That's the gist of this article:
"Bill to tighten gun permits goes to Ritter"
While as of the date of the article the bill had just hit the governor's desk I don't even have to look to see if he signed it. Gov. Ritter is an ex-DA from Denver. Need I explain his views on gun ownership?
The good news is that the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners is keeping track of sheriffs who enter CCW info into the data base (it's a voluntary move on the part of the issuer of the permit to submit the info to a database)
There's an article from the Rocky Mountain News that showed some of the debate on this bill a few weeks back:
"Gun bill ignites rights battle: Some Republicans see 2nd Amendment erosion"
It contained these gems:
"I think it's important to talk about a balance between constitutional rights and public safety,' Madden said."
"There's nothing in this bill . . . that would keep anyone from carrying a (concealed) weapon if they have a valid concealed-weapons permit,' he said."
Madden is a Democrat from the People's Republik of Boulder & the second quote was from Rep. Terrance Carroll, D-Denver. Note that Madden's comments are disturbing from a principled perspective (as well as a slippery slope aware perspective) but Carrol tells an outright lie. People who do qualify for carry permits in other states would be prohibited from carrying a concealed weapon in Colorado.
The republicans aren't much better when they argue that this is a constitutional issue.
I've said it before & I'll repeat it; the only constitutional issue is why the hell anyone needs a permit to bear arms. everything else is merely bartering over a privilege. While it is an unpleasant vacuum that more restrictions are being placed upon the privilege of obtaining & using a CCW permit that's just a part of playing that particular game. Sometimes we win a little sometimes we lose a little but we compromised ourselves away from the high ground when we scoffed at the chances of getting permitless carry passed in this state.
A legislature can change a law that was passed the year before. They can grant privileges as well as revoke them entirely. For there to be any stability there needs to be either a constitutional amendment that is followed or sufficient case law to have the same effect as a clearly respected constitutional provision. In Colorado we're at the whims of the legislature. While there have been some pragmatically good things done by them in recent years there have also been some bad things done by them in recent years.
Again I'm not real happy about these recent events but when it's up to a vote of politicians then I can't say I'm surprised. We have to either learn to accept these kinds of set backs or get off our asses & try to amend the constitution to protect our Rights instead of relying on the legislatures good graces concerning our privileges. (Another option would be seeking redress through the courts but that is probably less appealing & therefore less likely to motivate most pro-gunners than amending the constitution). Until then we must simply get used to having our privileges toyed with by the legislature.
Posted by Publicola at April 9, 2007 05:34 AM | TrackBack