The seventh major gun bill of the 2023 session encountered one of the shorter paths to its first committee victory, given its support from Democratic and Republican mayors, as well as from district attorneys and law enforcement officials.

Senate Bill 279 would ban “ghost guns,” also known as un-serialized weapons. 

The Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on Thursday approved the measure on a 3-2 party-line vote after a three-hour hearing.

The use of ghost guns – firearms that can be assembled from kits or printed by a 3D printer – has exploded in the last several years. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reported that 20,000 suspected ghost guns were recovered by law enforcement in criminal investigation in 2021.

In Colorado, two recent mass shootings were tied to individuals who used ghost guns. A 17-year-old at East High School last month reportedly used a ghost gun to shoot two school administrators and later took his own life with the weapon. The shooter at Club Q last November, where five people died, also reportedly used a ghost gun.

The bill proposed by Sens. Chris Hansen, D-Denver, and Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, would ban ghost guns in Colorado. For those who already possess ghost guns, the bill provides a compliance period through the end of 2023 to get the firearm serialized, which could be done by licensed firearm dealers.

That would also likely require the owner to go through a background check and any other normal processes tied to purchase and possession of firearms, according to Hansen.

While the bill would ban the manufacture and possession of ghost guns, it does not ban the purchase of kits or any other components used in 3D printing to assemble a ghost gun.

Doug Trainer of the Colorado Springs Police Department, who testified on behalf on Mayor John Suthers, said the bill will help address crime in their community by stopping people from legally circumventing Colorado’s background check system. Further, requiring the firearms to be serialized will help trace weapons in an investigation.

“This bill goes a long way toward curtailing the rapid proliferation of these firearms” made of parts, Trainer said. 

Suthers, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock all called for a crackdown on ghost guns in a letter to the Colorado Springs Gazette in January, calling for state laws to deter the use of these untraceable weapons, in part because people who possess those weapons are able to circumvent background checks, or could obtain them even when under a restraining order or red flag protection order.

Gov. Jared Polis, during his January state of the state address, also called for a ban on ghost guns, citing support from Suthers, Coffman and Hancock.

Republican District Attorney John Kellner of the 18th Judicial District in Arapahoe, Douglas and Elbert counties recounted that, two years ago, he asked police chiefs if they were seeing ghost guns.

Back then, the answer was “no.” But that’s all changed, Kellner said.

“We are seeing these all over. These are rapidly produced, easily produced, manufactured, and distributed through the use of 3D printers,” he said.

And juveniles are getting them, too, said Kellner, who pleaded with lawmakers to give them the tools to go after the people who sell these guns and make them so prevalent in communities.

Alexis King, the Democratic District Attorney for Jefferson and Gilpin counties, said that, without exception, these guns are possessed either by kids or people who have felony records and should not have a gun. Without exception, she added, this results in violence. 

She noted the guns can be manufactured on a 3D printer in just a matter of hours.

“Our kids can do it,” she said, describing SB 279 as an easy step to allow tracking these weapons.

Opponents voiced concerns the bill would violate their fundamental right to bear arms.

Todd Rathner of the national Firearms Policy Coalition told the committee there is “simply no honest or moral way to legislatively separate the right to keep and bear arms from the right to acquire and manufacture those same arms.” He called the bill an attack on liberty and a political gimmick.

Alicia Garcia claimed it is within her rights to build firearms. She pleaded with the committee to not make criminals out of ordinary citizens.

“These efforts should be centered on creating partial penalties for illegal possession and by youth and those who are already violating these already abundant gun control laws we have here in Colorado,” she said. 

She added they are not building guns to skirt the law. Rather, they build them to enjoy civil rights and to be more effective protectors of themselves and their families, she said. 

Coffman’s appearance before the committee drew Sen. Tom Sullivan, D-Centennial, to comment that he’s been working for a decade to get Coffman’s attention on the issue of firearms.

He’s bought tickets to events Coffman appeared at, tried to schedule a meeting with him at grocery stores or libraries or when Coffman was in Congress.

“And today, folks, Mayor Mike Coffman is sitting in front of a committee that I am on, and he is telling the people of the state of Colorado that a piece of legislation that I am fully invested in about, the manufacturing of ghost guns,” is something the mayor supports, Sullivan said, describing the situation as an “awesome” moment.

Clara and Grace Taub, twin sisters from East High School, also testified Thursday. Grace noted she testified on a bill just four weeks ago but that it wasn’t enough to prevent what happened at her school days later, a shooting that involved a ghost gun.

“I will continue to be here for as long as it takes for this state to enact every possible measure that will protect my classmates and I from even further gun violence,” she said. 

The bill now heads to the full Senate.