All 4 anti gun owner bills ( HB 1224, HB 1228, HB 1229 & HB 1226) passed a 2nd reading in the House today, after a lengthy debate. (HB 1224 was amended in committee to 15 rounds for cartridges and 8 rounds for magazines, with promises to correct language to allow manufacturers to stay in business)
I didn't watch the whole thing as mainly it was a canis lupus familiaria/equus ferus caballus performance, and after watching 17 hours of committee meetings my bullshit meter was already maxed out. Over at Billlls Idle Mind I found a decent write up of the first day of committee hearings. Today's debates were a repeat, minus the witness testimony aspect. What little I did watch was the same ol' same ol - emotional appeals lacking coherency or context, misunderstanding or outright lying about effects and facts and of course confusing the terms (mags, clips, whatever, etc..). The arrogance was astounding, with Rep. Fields actually saying she felt insulted by having her integrity questioned (Id say it was an insult to assume she had integrity).
I did hear some good arguments against these bills. I was also happy to hear folks saying "standard capacity" and 1 repub taking dems to task over using "clip" and "magazine" interchangeably. But in the end I don't think any minds were changed; 3 dems voiced opposition to these bills, but it would have taken 5 to change the outcomes. I fear it'll be the same on Monday when the final vote is taken, but it won't be over until then.
I think that the only chance to stop these bills is in the House; if they pass they'll have little trouble in the Senate and the governor will sign them without hesitation, but until these bills become laws we can and should fight them every step of the way. Then if they do become law we should still fight them. So if you're in Colorado then call your rep every day, either to urge them to vote no or to thank them for voting no. Repeat the process if they go to the Senate.
If you're out of state then at least call oe email letting the governor know that your tourist dollars will vacation in Wyoming this year if these anti gun owner bills become law. And if you're able help out Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, as they've been on the ground here fighting the good fight.
Posted by Publicola at February 15, 2013 11:56 PM | TrackBack