DENVER — Gov. John Hickenlooper will sign three Democratic gun control proposals into law this week, including the controversial ban on high-capacity magazines that has outraged gun owners threatening a recall effort against the governor and ballot measures to reverse the ban.
Hickenlooper will sign the three gun control bills Wednesday at 9 a.m. in his office and then take questions from the press at a 10:30 a.m. news conference in the West Foyer. FOX31 Denver plans to live stream the news conference on both KDVR.com and our mobile app.
Two other gun control measures will also be signed into law: a measure to require background checks on all gun private gun sales and transfers, which was given final re-approval by the House Friday, and another to impose a small fee to cover the cost of that check that passed the Senate on March 8.
But it’s House Bill 1224, the magazine ban, that most gun owners are trying desperately to kill; Hickenlooper’s office has been flooded with phone calls, emails and Facebook posts from people asking him to veto the bill, and the others.
Hickenlooper’s official announcement of a signing ceremony ends any and all speculation that the moderate governor was wavering, even after stating several times that he planned to sign all three bills.
Victory for Dems galvanizing gun owners — and a gubernatorial hopeful?
Wednesday’s signing ceremony will solidify a huge political victory for gun control advocates in Colorado and across the nation, many of whom view this moderate, western state as a sudden vanguard on the issue, one that could even impact what proposals are eventually adopted in Washington.
Meanwhile, Erie-based Magpul Industries, a manufacturer of high-capacity magazines, announced Monday that it will be following through on its plan to leave the state.
The governor’s signature isn’t likely to quell the uprising among gun owners, likely to turn their efforts from phone calls and emails begging for a veto toward ballot measures, an unlikely recall effort and the 2014 election.
Hickenlooper, who is seeking reelection next year and doesn’t yet have a declared opponent, still looks like a safe bet for reelection; but Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, perhaps the most passionate defender of gun rights at the Capitol and already listed among possible GOP gubernatorial candidates, may have found his reason to run.
“Two months ago, I was starting to look for work,” Brophy told FOX31 Denver Monday. “Now, I know what I’m doing.”
Civil unions signing ceremony set for Thursday
Hickenlooper will sign Senate Bill 11, recognizing civil unions for same-sex couples, on Thursday afternoon at the Colorado History Museum.
The venue was chosen to commemorate what will be, to sponsors and supporters, a historic moment for a state that passed Amendment 2 just two decades earlier.
The ceremony, which will be open to the public, is scheduled for 3 p.m.
S.B. 11 passed the full House last week.
A bill signing for the ASSET bill, which will allow undocumented students to qualify for in-state college tuition, has yet to be scheduled.
The bill passed the House on March 8.