The bill to ban ghost guns on Friday won a party-line vote in the Colorado House and is headed to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk.

Senate Bill 279 would ban the manufacture and possession of un-serialized frames and receivers, the outer shell that holds the components for a gun. 

Ghost guns can be assembled with kits that include all or part of a gun, as well as created through 3-D printers. However, the bill does not ban the sale of kits that do not include the frames or receivers, nor components that can be used to create a gun on a 3-D printer, so long as the components don’t include the frame or receiver.

The bill also creates a new misdemeanor charge for possessing an un-serialized firearm, which can be made with kits, or even with 3D printers.

SB 279 does provide an opportunity for owners of ghost guns to get serial numbers added onto their firearms, which can be done by any licensed dealer, but would also likely require a background check under existing state law. That window expires at the end of the year. 

Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, D-Fort Collins, noted the kits are available online to anyone, including those who would be legally prohibited from possessing firearms. 

Ghost guns are turning up more frequently in Denver, according to co-sponsor Rep. Junie Joseph, D-Boulder. Denver Police confiscated more than 100 last year and 166 in 2021, Joseph said.

“Those guns … are a growing threat to community safety because they are often used by violent criminals and have no serial numbers,” she said.

Republicans maintained during debate on Thursday and prior to Friday’s final vote that the bill makes criminals out of law-abiding citizens.

Rep. Ryan Armagost, R-Berthoud, said his biggest concern are the bill’s unintended consequences.

“We’re using language and buzzwords, painting un-serialized firearms as dangerous weapons. There’s nothing inherently dangerous about an inanimate object,” he said.

This would affect law-abiding citizens who collect firearms and use them at firing ranges, for example, he said.

“No matter what we do to ban anything, criminals will find a way to get firearms illegally,” he said.

Joseph countered that the bill is about accountability and protecting the lives of Coloradans, a primary concern for all lawmakers. 

SB 279 was backed by the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council; the mayors of Aurora, Colorado Springs and Denver; and, various gun control groups.

Polis advocated for legislation on ghost guns and is expected to sign it, making it the fifth major gun measure approved in the 2023 session.

The bill is in addition to legislation raising the minimum age for purchasing firearms from 18 to 21; establishing a three-day waiting period before delivery of a firearm; allowing gun violence victims to sue firearms manufacturers and dealers in civil court; and, expanding the list of those who can seek an “extreme risk protection order” to include district attorneys, medical and mental health professionals, K-12 teachers and higher education faculty.

The measure was one of two gun bills that got final resolution in the last 24 hours.

But while SB 279 now heads to Polis’ desk, House Bill 1165, which sought to allow counties to prevent firearms discharges in neighborhoods with 35 dwellings per square mile, met a different fate.

Two months after it was approved by the House, the Senate Local Government and Housing Committee on Thursday killed the bill, among the rare defeats for gun control measures in the 2023 session.