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Colorado bolsters gun laws months after killings
DENVER -- Eight months after dozens of people were shot in a Colorado movie theatre, the state's Democratic governor on Wednesday signed new restrictions on firearms.
It is a big change for Democrats who have traditionally shied away from taking on gun control in a western state in which owning a gun is as common as owning a car in some rural areas.
Gov. John Hickenlooper signed limits on ammunition magazines and a landmark expansion of background checks. The signings mark a significant moment in Colorado, which has a libertarian tradition.
During the last month, Colorado has been viewed as a test for how far states are willing to go on new restrictions after the horror of shootings at a Connecticut elementary school and in a movie theatre in Aurora, Colo., a suburb of Denver. There, on July 20, a gunman dressed in body armour and carrying an arsenal of firearms killed 12 people and wounded dozens during a showing of a Dark Knight Batman film.
Then in December, a massacre at a Connecticut school left 28 dead and revived gun control as a top issue. U.S. President Barack Obama proposed several gun-safety measures a month later in response.
Despite the president's backing, a push for a federal assault-weapons ban has faltered in Washington, where the National Rifle Association gun lobby has powerful allies, especially in the Republican party. Senate Democrats decided the ban won't be in the bill because it didn't have enough support to pass.
Many Democrats think a national ban on large-capacity magazines has a better chance of getting more support. Other measures under consideration in the Senate would expand required federal background checks for firearms buyers, increase federal penalties for illegal gun trafficking and increase money for school safety.
The states, meanwhile, are free to impose their own restrictions that can be stricter than anything Congress might pass.
Even before Obama presented his proposals, New York quickly passed the nation's toughest gun laws, strengthening its assault-weapons ban and adding new restrictions on ammunition and the sale of guns.
California lawmakers have vowed to pass a package of gun-control measures that is even tougher than New York's. And in Connecticut, a law that would require universal background checks is moving through the state legislature.
-- The Associated Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 21, 2013 A13
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