Today is March 27, 2023 and here is what you need to know:

Meeting on a rare Sunday, Democrats gave final approval to two gun bills following marathon sessions that at times turned acrimonious. 

The majority advanced Senate Bill 170, which seeks to expand the people who can seek a “red flag” petition, and Senate Bill 168, which allows victims of gun violence to sue firearms manufacturers and dealers in civil court. 

Sunday’s session started off with much of the same acrimony that characterized what happened late Saturday – and more or less ended that way.

SB 170 passed on party-line 44-to-19 vote, while SB 168 won, 39-22, with three Democrats – Reps. Megan Lukens of Steamboat Springs, Matthew Martinez of Monte Vista and Barbara McLachlan of Durango – voting “no,” along with Republicans.  

Sunday’s action on SB 168 also included renaming the bill in honor of Jessica Redfield Ghawi Act, who died in the 2012 Aurora Theater shooting. Ghawi’s parents, Lonnie and Sandy Phillips, sued an online firearms dealer in state court for selling ammunition to the shooter but lost, driving the Phillips into bankruptcy when they had to pay more than $200,000 in legal fees.

The Phillips were in the House gallery Sunday for the final vote.

Lawmakers substantially amended a third bill, Senate Bill 169, which raises the age for purchasing firearms from 18 to 21, during Sunday’s session. It won approval on a preliminary voice vote.

On Saturday, House Democrats invoked Rule 14, which limited debate on two gun bills to an hour each and caused howls of outrage from House Republicans and their allies outside the building. 

Republicans knew Democrats were considering the temporary change in rules, which applies only to bills named in the motion – they had stickers made that showed a “14” with a red circle around it and a line through the number.

Despite knowing the possibility existed, Republicans filibustered the two bills for two full days, beginning Friday afternoon and continuing throughout the entire day Saturday.

As Dave Williams takes the reins of the beleaguered Colorado Republican Party, the former three-term state lawmaker from Colorado Springs says to expect a more confrontational posture from the party but cautions that it could take more than one general election cycle before the GOP regains power in the state.

The pugnacious 36-year-old – Williams sued to appear on ballots last year with an anti-Biden slur attached to his name and filed a criminal complaint against the incumbent congressman he challenged in a primary – told Colorado Politics in an interview that anyone who thought he’d trim his sails or tack toward the middle after winning the party chair race earlier this month will be disappointed.

Williams said he intends to charge ahead with plans to block unaffiliated voters from participating in Republican primaries. He also wants Tina Peters, the indicted former county clerk who goes on trial this summer on charges stemming from allegations she helped tamper with election equipment, to take an official role with the state party, dismissing critics who suggest the unsubstantiated rigged-election claims she promotes damage Republicans’ chances in Colorado.

“We’re going on offense,” Williams said. “We’re going to take the fight to the Democrats every chance we get, and we’re no longer going to apologize for our beliefs or values, but we’re going to boldly articulate them in the marketplace and stand firm to what we believe on.”

Republicans, who haven’t won a statewide election in Colorado since 2016, have also steadily lost seats over the same period in the General Assembly and in the state’s congressional delegation. While both major parties’ share of the state’s registered voters have dropped in the last decade – from just over 31% of the total each in 2013 – Republicans have fallen to about 24%, with the Democrats accounting for about 27%. Other than a small fraction belonging to third parties, the remainder – nearly 47% of the total – are unaffiliated voters. 

Williams won the GOP’s top job on March 11 at a state central committee meeting in Loveland.

In Colorado and nationwide, around one in 10 people will be diagnosed with an eating disorder in their lifetime. State lawmakers are trying to address that with a new pair of bills. 

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee advanced Senate Bill 14 and Senate Bill 176 on Thursday. 

If signed into law, SB 14 would create a statewide office dedicated to preventing disordered eating. SB 176 would regulate certain operations in eating disorder treatment facilities and restrict the sale of diet pills to minors. 

“Eating disorders are increasingly recognized as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality that impact thousands of Coloradans every year,” said Sen. Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City, who is sponsoring both bills. “These bills are a strong first step toward better supporting Coloradans experiencing eating disorders and will help build a healthier Colorado for all.” 

Eating disorders are the second-deadliest mental illness, beat only by opioid-related deaths, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Nationally, around 10,200 people die from eating disorders each year, with the most common eating disorders being anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder. 

Since 2019, the Eating Disorder Foundation in Denver said its average monthly sign-ups for support groups have increased 1,000%, which experts attribute to the mental health impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Eating Recovery Center in Colorado similarly reported a “remarkable” uptick in patients in the last three years, particularly among teens and children. 

Most of Denver learned Austin Lyle’s name for the first time on Wednesday when police identified him as the person they suspected of shooting two deans at East High School before fleeing, his body found later that night in Park County.

Since then, people have scrambled to fill in the blanks about his life from social media posts and scraps of information leaked about his past. Why was he subjected to daily searches for weapons before he could go into school? What drove a seemingly sweet, bright kid to do what he allegedly did? And why did he flee to Park County?

Though still little is known about Lyle, 17, two narratives have taken shape: One of an apparently troubled kid, expelled from another high school and on probation for a gun charge. A second of a sweet, dedicated student with an apparent dark side few knew of.

The Denver Gazette has not been able to reach Lyle’s family members. But a few East High students who had classes with Lyle said the alleged actions of a boy they remembered as a kind, funny, shy and hardworking kid left them reeling.

Sophomore Addi Kirkland, who had a math class with Lyle, said at a Capitol rally Friday she and her fellow students didn’t know about Lyle’s safety plan or his expulsion from Overland High School before he transferred to East. She said she believes Lyle’s story has more complexity than him being a bad person.

“This is a sweet guy who sat at the table next to me; someone who you interact with every day, and you don’t know these things. … This is someone who I would’ve told you is a good person. I’m still grieving the death of my classmate.”

China’s global campaign to win friends and influence policy has blossomed in a surprising place: Utah, a deeply religious and conservative state with few obvious ties to the world’s most powerful communist country.

An investigation by the Associated Press has found that China and its U.S.-based advocates spent years building relationships with the state’s officials and lawmakers. Those efforts have paid dividends at home and abroad, the AP found: Lawmakers delayed legislation Beijing didn’t like, nixed resolutions that conveyed displeasure with its actions and expressed support in ways that enhanced the Chinese government’s image.

Its work in Utah is emblematic of a broader effort by Beijing to secure allies at the local level as its relations with the U.S. and its western allies have turned acrimonious. U.S. officials say local leaders are at risk of being manipulated by China and have deemed the influence campaign a threat to national security.

Beijing’s success in Utah shows “how pervasive and persistent China has been in trying to influence America,” said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI counterintelligence agent who lives in Utah.

“Utah is an important foothold,” he said. “If the Chinese can succeed in Salt Lake City, they can also make it in New York and elsewhere.”