With blatant disregard for the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as the Supreme Court’s Bruen ruling, anti-gun politicians in the state legislature are once again attempting to ban all the most common firearms used for self-defense, home protection and sport shooting.

House Bill 24-1292, sponsored by state Reps. Elisabeth Epps and Tim Hernandez, is a sweeping ban on the manufacture, sale and transfer of every semi-automatic, centerfire shotgun, rifle and handgun that accepts a magazine.

If you own a firearm, there is a good chance this bill – if passed – will ban it.

The Glock you carry in case you’re attacked while you’re walking your dog will be banned. The 12 gauge you keep at home to defend against violent intruders will be outlawed. The .380 a domestic violence survivor carries in her purse for self-defense will be prohibited along with countless other firearms.

And this isn’t about keeping guns away from criminals.

Every day, criminals prove they have no problem getting their hands on firearms despite the innumerable gun laws across the country. Certainly, the anti-gun politicians – competent enough to get themselves elected to legislate at the Capitol – are aware of this simple fact.

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But they continue to infringe on the Second Amendment because they don’t trust us, the responsible citizens of Colorado, with the equipment we keep for self-defense. That says more about them than it does about us.

Unfortunately for them, they seem to have forgotten who they’re up against.

Need we remind them of the spitting image of this bill that went down in flaming defeat last year after the Colorado State Shooting Association (the state association of the NRA) and our members showed up consistently to oppose them at every step?

Perhaps they’re betting we’re all too worn out by their constant attacks on our rights to keep up the fight.

While we hate to burst their bubble, we feel we should inform them we are here to stay. And we have the United States Constitution, as well as court precedent, on our side.

In the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision, which was won by a fellow NRA state association, the court established for a gun law to be constitutional it must be consistent with the Second Amendment’s plain text and the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.

Though it would be entertaining to watch the anti-gun politicians get laughed out of court after we file a lawsuit to get this gun grab overturned, we intend to save them the embarrassment by defeating this bill long before it reaches the governor’s desk.

We intend to do that because this bill is dangerous.

Banning the legal manufacture, sale and transfer of firearms means one thing: these weapons will only be manufactured, sold and transferred by and between criminals.

Maybe these politicians aren’t so anti-gun after all. Perhaps they’ve simply misread the Constitution and think it says, “the right of the degenerates to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Epps and Hernandez, if that is the case, we’d be happy to sit down with you and clear up any confusion you might have about the Second Amendment’s text. Let’s schedule a chat when everything settles down after the Colorado State Shooting Association defeats this terrible bill you’ve put forward.

In the meantime, we will continue to fight back against this and every other anti-gun bill.

Our nation’s founders entrusted us, the American people, with the task of preserving the rights guaranteed by our Constitution. The time to step up to the assignment is upon us. We hope the law-abiding citizens of Colorado will join us.

John Seville is the president of the Colorado State Shooting Association (the official state association of the NRA). Learn more and read the bill at CSSA.ORG/CO.