ICYMI: ‘The left plans to ban guns among the poor and minorities’ - Gazette

Last week, the Gazette Editorial Board put out a great piece outlining how Senate Bill 3, the Semi-Auto Firearm Ban and Gun Owner Registry, will amount to an outright gun ban exclusively for poor people and minorities. You can read it below.

The Colorado State Shooting Association (your official state association of the NRA) will not rest until Senate Bill 3 is defeated. We need your support. At the bottom of this email, you can donate and become a member of CSSA for $5 per month, $50 per year, or $140 for three years.

“Former Vice President Kamala Harris — surrounded by the world’s most sophisticated bodyguards — has a warning for bad guys.

“Speaking of her semi-auto pistol during a 60 Minutes interview that aired in October, Harris said ‘If somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot.’

“She would shoot the intruder with a common handgun, many of which fall in the sights of Colorado’s activist, left-wing legislative Democrats with the amended version of Senate Bill 3.

“Senate Bill 3 set out to forbid the sale, purchase and transfer of semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and pistols. Sponsors feared Democratic Gov. Jared Polis might veto something so extreme. We would hope so, given that his oath of office began with ‘I do swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States’ and ‘the Constitution of the state of Colorado.’

“To contend with that concern, the bill’s hard-left sponsors amended it and won preliminary Senate approval at 2 a.m. on Friday.

“If Polis signs the new version, he will go down among history’s worst gun-grabbing politicians. If Polis does anything other than veto SB-3, he will lose his viability as a candidate for national office. When a politician appears to the left of Harris on guns, his future is dim.

“The new version attempts to preclude critics from saying it outlaws common handguns, rifles and shotguns. Instead, it limits their acquisition to wealthy, disproportionately white male consumers.

“With the new amendments, Polis could buy the targeted guns (net worth > $400 million), along with most legislators. Those who could not buy guns — unable to meet the law’s high threshold — include people who need self-protection the most: low-income battered women, low-income members of the LGBTQIA community, and low-income minorities living in Colorado’s high-crime neighborhoods.

“Sure, pass a bill that harms only the lower half of the socio-economic ladder. They won’t fuss, because they are busy paying for overpriced food and inflated utility bills while staying off the radar of TdA gangsters and other criminals who chuckle at guns laws.

“The amended bill would institutionalize social injustice and inequity. Instead of screwing 100% of Coloradans out of their gun rights, it would substantially burden only the working class and poor — the people most endangered by crime.

“It would, until a court says otherwise, pretend the Second Amendment says gun rights ‘shall not be infringed among the rich.’

“Consider a single mother with two jobs and a well-armed, drunken, abusive ex-boyfriend who threatens her. To obtain a typical, user-friendly gun, she would have to:

“• Submit fingerprints to a sheriff to perform a lengthy background check that might clear her for an eligibility ID card that would qualify her to apply for a firearms safety course.

“• If eligible, the prospective gun owner would need to complete an extended firearms safety course, or a hunter safety course combined with a basic firearms course.

“• After obtaining permission and completing the coursework, the prospective gun owner would have to pass a final exam with a score of at least 90%.

“It’s like Old South’s literacy tests that kept ‘the wrong people’ from voting. It also manifests in a gun registry of questionable legality.

“Without disposable income, a flexible work schedule and ample free time, forget it. Meeting the threshold would be, for average Coloradans, a pipe-dream too expensive and time consuming to pursue. Criminals will love this law.

“Sadly, the far left tolerates personal empowerment, freedom and safety only for those who can pay for it. It is the latest and most extreme effort, from the left’s safe and cozy ivory tower, to favor criminals over everyone else.”

We certainly agree with the editor’s analysis of what this bill will mean for anybody without sufficient resources to get through SB3’s licensing scheme, including the poor and minorities. It will mean a simple inability to access common firearms for legitimate purposes like self-defense because they can’t afford to purchase that right from the state.

That is why the Colorado State Shooting Association (your official state association of the NRA) will continue our fight against the Semi-Auto Ban and Gun Owner Registry in the Legislature, the Governor’s Office, and if necessary, the courts.

We need your support. We have an all-volunteer board and every penny we raise goes directly to the fight.

If you support the Second Amendment, become a member of CSSA for $5 per month, $50 per year, or $140 for three years. You can also make a contribution to any of our donation funds below (see our donation glossary to learn more about our effective use of donor funds).

Click on the buttons below to become a member and/or donate.

*Donation Fund Glossary*

Constituent Outreach Fund: Funds pro-gun messaging and voter turnout campaigns

Legal Fund: Funds lawsuits to overturn 2A infringements

Legislative Action Fund: Funds efforts to prevent anti-gun legislation from passing

General Fund: Goes wherever CSSA needs it most

Merchandise: All funds generated by the CSSA store go directly to the fight

Here’s How Every State Senator Voted on the Semi-Auto Gun Ban

Below you’ll find a breakdown of yesterday’s final-passage vote on Senate Bill 25-003, the Semi-Automatic Firearm Ban and Gun Owner Registry, in the state Senate. If signed into law, this bill will severely restrict access to a majority of the most popular semi-automatic firearms used for self-defense, home defense and sport shooting, unless a prospective buyer submits his or her name to a gun owner registry and sifts their way through a lengthy and expensive bureaucratic process to obtain a license to purchase.

The fight against this bill is far from over, and we will not rest until it is defeated — whether in the state House of Representatives, the Governor’s Office, or the courts. You can support us by becoming a member of the Colorado State Shooting Association (your official state association of the NRA) or by making a contribution at the bottom of this email.

If you can spare the time, we encourage you to contact every senator who voted in favor of the bill, demanding answers for why they saw it appropriate to infringe on your Second Amendment rights so flagrantly. We also encourage grateful and supportive messages to most of the senators who voted against it.

We say most because Senators Marc Snyder (D) and Tony Exum (D) were initially co-sponsors of the bill, despite voting against it yesterday afternoon. No doubt their early support aided in the legislation’s ascent to viability. Somewhat humorously, Senator Snyder cited reading the bill as the catalyst for his change of heart. Now, we would never doubt these two senators have a habit of supporting bills they haven’t read — though we suspect our heavy campaigning among pro-gun voters within their districts may have played a role in the flip-flop.

For your part, we think Snyder (D) and Exum (D) ought to receive messages questioning how often they support bills they haven’t even read. They should be called on to give true answers for their initial support of Senate Bill 3. Was it all a ploy to ensure the Democrats’ far-left anti-gun agenda could make it through the Senate without costing the caucus two of their most vulnerable seats? These are all good questions; we’d like to know the answers.

A message from CSSA to Senator Hinrichsen (D): Thank you for not co-sponsoring Senate Bill 3 and following it up with a no vote, breaking from your party on this gun ban. We will continue to monitor votes senators make on gun bills. We hope to see you cast more Second Amendment affirming votes in the future and are open to working with you to defend gun rights. However, if we come to find that you only vote pro-gun when you think it would be a political liability not to, we will come for your seat in the legislature with the full force of the Colorado State Shooting Association.

Now for our members and supporters, here’s the list of yes votes, followed by the list of no votes (every senator’s contact info is listed next to their name):

Yes votes: 19 (all are Democrats)

Sen. Judy Amabile (Democrat, SD-18), 303-866-4872, judy.amabile.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Matt Ball (Democrat, SD-31), 303-866-4861, matt.ball.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Jeff Bridges (Democrat, SD-26), 303-866-4846, jeff.bridges.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Lisa Cutter (Democrat, SD-20), 303-866-4859, lisa.cutter.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Jesse Danielson (Democrat, SD-22), 303-866-4856, jessie.danielson.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Lindsey Daugherty (Democrat, SD-19), 303-866-4840, lindsey.daugherty.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Julie Gonzales (Democrat, SD-34), 303-866-4862, julie.gonzales.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Iman Jodeh (Democrat, SD-29), 303-866-3432, iman.jodeh.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Cathy Kipp (Democrat, SD-14), 303-866-4841, cathy.kipp.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Chris Kolker (Democrat, SD-16), 303-866-4883, chris.kolker.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Janice Marchman (Democrat, SD-15), 303-866-4853, janice.marchman.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet (Democrat, SD-21), 303-866-4857, dafna.michaelson.jenet.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Kyle Mullica (Democrat, SD-24), 303-866-4451, kyle.mullica.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Dylan Roberts (Democrat, SD-8), 303-866-4871, dylan.roberts.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Robert Rodriguez (Democrat, SD-32), 303-866-4852, robert.rodriguez.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Tom Sullivan (Democrat, SD-27), 303-866-4873, tom.sullivan.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Mike Weissman (Democratl, SD-28), 303-866-4879, mike.weissman.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Faith Winter (Democrat, SD-25), 303-866-4863, faith.winter.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. James Coleman (Democrat, SD-33), 303-866-4864, james.coleman.senate@coleg.gov

No Votes: 15

Sen. Mark Baisley (Republican, SD-4), 303-866-4877, mark.baisley@senate.co.com

Sen. Scott Bright (Republican, SD-13), 303-866-4855, scott.bright.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. John Carson (Republican, SD-30), 303-866-4881, john.carson.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Marc Catlin (Republican, SD-5), 303-866-5292, marc.catlin.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Tony Exum (Democrat, SD-11), 303-866-6364, tony.exum.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Lisa Frizell (Republican, SD-2), 303-866-4869, lisa.frizell.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Nick Hinrichsen (Democrat, SD-3), 303-866-4878, nick.hinrichsen.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer (Republican, SD-23), 303-866-4876, barbara.kirkmeyer.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Larry Liston (Republican, SD-10), 303-866-2737, larry.liston.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Paul Lundeen (Republican, SD-9), 303-866-4835, paul.lundeen.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Byron Pelton (Republican, SD-1), 303-866-6360, byron.pelton.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Rod Pelton (Republican, SD-35), 303-866-4884, rod.pelton.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Janice Rich (Republican, SD-7), 303-866-3077, janicerichsd7@gmail.com

Sen. Cleave Simpson (Republican, SD-6), 303-866-4875, cleave.simpson.senate@coleg.gov

Sen. Marc Snyder (Democrat, SD-12), 303-866-4880, marc.snyder.senate@coleg.gov

The Colorado State Shooting Association (your official state association of the NRA) will continue our fight in earnest against this bill in the legislature, the Governor’s Office, and if need be, the courts — where we will have the law clearly on our side.

However, this process isn’t cheap and we need your support. We have an all-volunteer board of directors and every penny we raise goes directly to the fight.

If you support the Second Amendment, join the fight to defeat the Semi-Auto Firearm Ban and Gun Owner Registry by becoming a member of CSSA for $5 per month, $50 per year, or $140 for three years. You can also donate to our Constituent Outreach, Legislative Action, Legal, or General funds (see our donation glossary to learn more about our effective use of donor funds).

We additionally encourage you, in defiance of the Gun Owner Registry, to make a purchase of your favorite piece of merch in our Molon Labe (Come and take them!) Collection. All revenues from the CSSA store go directly to the fight.

We’re grateful to America’s founders for having the foresight to enshrine in our Constitution the right to keep and bear arms. Now it’s on us to defend it.

Click on the buttons below to become a member and/or donate.

Sincerely,

Huey Laugesen

Executive Director

Colorado State Shooting Association

*Donation Fund Glossary*

Constituent Outreach Fund: Funds pro-gun messaging and voter turnout campaigns

Legal Fund: Funds lawsuits to overturn 2A infringements

Legislative Action Fund: Funds efforts to prevent anti-gun legislation from passing

General Fund: Goes wherever CSSA needs it most

Merchandise: All revenues from the CSSA store go directly to the fight