Senate's gun-rights bills shot down by House Democrats

Just one bill to expand gun rights in Colorado is still standing after a state House committee dispatched three pro-gun bills Wednesday.

That last remaining bill, which is likely destined for the same House “kill” committee — State, Veterans and Military Affairs — would allow any person who is legally allowed to buy a handgun to carry it without a concealed weapons permit. The measure passed the Senate Thursday morning on a party-line 18-17 vote, with Republicans carrying the day.

The straight party-line vote was a marked difference from the other three bills the Senate approved on gun rights, all of which managed to draw modest Democratic support, most consistently from Democratic Sens. Leroy Garcia of Pueblo and Cheri Jahn of Wheat Ridge.

Still, the three, as expected, survived one chamber only to die in the next. All dead-ended in party-line votes in the Democratic-controlled House State Affairs committee, with six Democrats against and three Republicans in favor. The hearing on Wednesday drew a standing-room only audience to the state Capitol, but the crowds thinned quickly after the first bill died.

Read more: http://www.coloradoindependent.com/164544/senates-gun-rights-bills-gone