Earlier this week, the wailing of air raid sirens across Colorado trailed off as 120 days of legislative bombing runs came to an end. There was no ceasefire. There is no peace. Those in control of our Capitol simply ran out of time. But they will be back.

As Coloradans come out of their bunkers for the first time in four months, the damage done to the public safety landscape is significant and there are casualties. Victories were few and came in the form of less-than-expected damage to our criminal justice infrastructure.

On the heels of granting drug dealers the right to purchase firearms last session, the killers-need-hugs crowd under the Gold Dome this year blew up SB 109, a bipartisan bill that would have mandated increased punishment for drug dealers whose product kills people. Remember that this bill would have only brought meth, cocaine and other drug dealers on par with the punishments for fentanyl dealers.

Stay up to speed: Sign-up for daily opinion in your inbox Monday-Friday

Separately, but following the same motif, 27 Democrat members of the radical House (a majority of that delegation) tried to derail a bill that would have increased penalties for those deviants among us who masturbate in front of our children. The bill sought only to match the punishments for sickos who pleasure themselves in front of children online. Alas, for some Democrats – that was a bridge too far.

During a session that saw the Second Amendment further weakened through the passage of “feel good” gun legislation that impacts only law-abiding citizens (arbitrary waiting period, arbitrary age limits and extending red flag gun confiscating powers to teachers and Phil Weiser), the legislature refused to fix their past mistake in allowing for the re-arming of drug dealers, car thieves and thousands of other convicted felons.

Rather than create mandatory sentences for those who commit crimes with guns, the legislature changed the law to prevent law-abiding gunmakers and sellers from defending against lawsuits by pointing to the criminals who misused their constitutionally protected products.

There were some victories for those who seek to make our state safer. Gov. Jared Polis doubled-down on his pledge to make Colorado one of the 50 safest states in America the year after he leaves office by ambitiously promising to buck the last three years’ performance and lead Colorado into the second or perhaps third worst-ranked state in the U.S. for motor vehicle theft. To that end, and after much obstruction, disagreement and wringing of hands by state Rep. Elisabeth Epps and the delegation from the queen city of car theft in Colorado, SB 97 finally tweaked our laws to treat the theft of all cars the same, regardless of whether they are owned by poor people, or Polis and the super-rich. Who knew that trying to create equity (most abused word in the modern era) in punishments would be anything other than a slam dunk, unanimous vote? It was not. But it passed – baby steps. Next time, maybe jail for repeated car thefts? Maybe.

Likewise, normality and common sense won out in bills imposing mandatory post-conviction DNA testing (HB 1034); creating a law (SB 279) – even a tiny one with no stiff penalties – for “ghost guns,” and defining what constitutes “serious bodily injury” (SB 34) after a tortured appellate court redefinition of a decades-old term. As well – and this one came with consequences (below) – HB 1249, the bill that sought to immunize 12-year-old rapists and attempted murderers from even juvenile court, was gutted in the end by a handful of senators who finally concluded that three discretionary meetings between the violent juvenile and a community board likely did not provide much in the way or protection for the community.

The media is not covering this next part.

As retaliation for their handful of losses, and in an effort to make future attacks on our criminal justice system more successful, the Democrats killed the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ). Ironically, HB 1249 was one of a growing number of radical bills that skips CCJJ, because time to scrutinize is the Killing Fields of extremist policy. In 2007, Gov. Bill Ritter created the CCJJ, a non-partisan board of 30 members hailing from across the justice spectrum, whose every-five-year, renewable mission “is to enhance public safety, to ensure justice, and to ensure protection of the rights of victims through the cost-effective use of public resources… (by focusing) on evidence-based recidivism reduction initiatives and the cost-effective expenditure of limited criminal justice funds.” Wacky, huh? The CCJJ was a clearinghouse for policy changes with significant impact on our system. Its broad coalition tended to be a check against extremist efforts to blow-up portions of our criminal laws and policy. It had been easily renewed by bipartisan votes twice before. Until now.

Having made undeniable gains in last year’s midterms, the extremists occupied the Capitol by force. When their efforts to accomplish the inexplicable, indefensible and downright dangerous through legislation fell short, the Left struck under the cover of an expiring calendar. By a party-line vote, Democrats voted against renewing the CCJJ. Gone is the last impediment to the introduction of even more bonkers legislation next year.

On a scale of 1-to-10, this session was nearly a disaster for the criminal justice system. Buckle up for next year, Colorado. Our only hope to stop the runaway offender-friendly Democrat legislature is – Gov. Polis?

My optimism is proportionate to my level of intoxication.

George Brauchler is the former district attorney for the 18th Judicial District. He also is an?Owens Early Criminal Justice Fellow at the Common Sense Institute and?president of the Advance Colorado Academy, which identifies, trains and connects conservative leaders in Colorado. He hosts The George Brauchler Show on 710KNUS Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Follow him on Twitter: @GeorgeBrauchler.