Colorado: Bill to End Duplicative State Background Check Passes in the House

Today, NRA-backed House Bill 1048, legislation to repeal the unnecessary state-run background check system, passed in the Colorado House with bipartisan support on a 37 to 28 vote.  HB 1048 now goes to the historically anti-gun state Senate, led by Senate President Brandon Shaffer (D-17).  Senator Shaffer has continued to assign pro-gun legislation to the Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee which has come to be known as the designated “kill committee” for all pro-Second Amendment legislation.  

HB 1048, introduced by state Representative Mark Waller (R-15), would eliminate the duplicative state-run Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) InstaCheck system for the purchase of firearms and solely utilize the existing National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).  By removing the CBI InstaCheck program, HB 1048 would save the state of Colorado over $1.5 million the first year and upwards of $2 million in subsequent years by simply repealing an unnecessary state-run program.

Colorado is currently 1 of only 13 states that utilizes a duplicative state background check for the transfer of firearms. The CBI InstaCheck, which can in no way quantify the results of their system, unnecessarily denies the right to purchase a firearm to thousands of Colorado citizens. A study performed by the U.S. Department of Justice showed that Colorado had the highest percentage of reversals on appeal, nationwide, for the right to transfer a firearm at 58.8% from 2000 to 2009 and the highest in 2009 with 75.8%.  This means that a Colorado resident could be denied the right to purchase a firearm due to incomplete information or an issue as trivial as having forgotten to pay a speeding ticket.

Please call AND e-mail Senator Shaffer TODAY and respectfully request that he assign HB 1048 to a committee in which it will receive a fair hearing and vote, and not be assigned to the anti-gun Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee.  

You can call Senator Shaffer at (303) 866-3342 and e-mail him at brandon.shaffer.senate@state.co.us.