Denver Post reports:
Amid flagging support from his own party, the Democratic sponsor of a bill banning concealed weapons on college campuses spiked his own bill Friday night on the floor of the Colorado Senate.
Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, asked that HB 1226, a bill to ban concealed weapons on campus, be postponed until May 10, two days after the end of the session. The move effectively killed the bill.
Heath read from a statement in which he cited a litany of statistics to back up his argument that guns were not safe on campuses.
"Every one time a gun is used in self-defense, it is used 11 times for suicide, seven times for homicide and used in an accident four times," he said.
HB 1226's defeat follows two embarrassing missteps involving the topic of rape:
[State Senator Evie] Hudak has been facing a barrage of criticism from Republicans over a comment she made to a rape victim Monday during a committee hearing on a bill that bans guns on college campuses.
When the woman who had been raped told the committee she could have prevented her attack with a concealed weapon, Hudak said, "Actually, statistics are not on your side even if you had a gun."
Last month, CO House Rep Joe Salazar
landed in a bit of hot water while speculating on the capacity of potential victims to identify friend or foe:
“It’s why we have call boxes, it’s why we have safe zones, it’s why we have the whistles. Because you just don’t know who you’re going to be shooting at."
Four bills before the Senate passed by voice vote; with a
recorded vote expected next week. Cleared provisions include
expanding NICS checks to private sales and
restricting ownership and banning transfer of 10+ round mags. In recent weeks, Magpul, a veteran run manufacturer that employs hundreds of state residents and
supports a wider plastics industry in the state,
threatened to cease operations in Colorado if HB 1224 passed.