Colorado lawmakers on Wednesday tussled over giving Colorado Bureau of Investigation authority over gun-related inquiries that could tread on local law enforcement jurisdiction, even as Republicans sought to cut the proposal’s cost. 

The proposal, which seeks to give authorities increased ability to investigate illegal gun activity, pus another measure that would require guns stored in cars to be locked up faced lengthy debates yesterday in the House and Senate.

In the Senate, lawmakers tackled Senate Bill 3, the bill dealing with CBI, for more than three hours. CBI, a division under the Department of Public Safety, conducts forensic and laboratory services, as well as criminal investigations upon the request of local and state law enforcement agencies. 

SB 3 carries an expensive price tag in a year when lawmakers are told there is little extra money for new programs. As amended by the Senate Appropriations Committee, the bill would require 10 more full-time employees at CBI and about $1.5 million in the 2024-25 budget.

While the exact amount of the set-aside that lawmakers can tap for new programs for the next budget is not yet known, the governor’s proposed spending calls for $15 million. 

The state’s quarterly revenue forecast, expected on Friday, will dictate the final numbers budget writers will use for the 2024-25 budget. Those numbers could potentially show lower revenue projections, which would eat into what lawmakers have for new programs.

One amendment, offered by Republicans, would have cut SB3’s estimated cost and the number of required new employees by half. It failed.

The bill, as amended by the Senate Judiciary Committee, outlines a list of gun activities the CBI would investigate, including:

• “Egregious attempts to purchase firearms by previously convicted felons who are identified through the Instacheck unit denial process”

• “Unlawful activity involving illegal firearm components and accessories”  

• “Tips and information relating to firearms violations as they are received, specifically focusing on straw purchases and personally manufactured firearms, commonly known as ghost guns.” 

State law in 2023 banned the manufacture and possession of un-serialized frames and receivers, the outer shell that holds the components for a gun.

“Ghost gun” kits, not including the outer shell, remain legal to buy and sell in Colorado. In January, gun rights groups filed a lawsuit against the state, challenging the 2023 law. 

On Wednesday, lawmakers tackled several amendments from both sides of the aisle that would tweak SB 3 to require CBI to collaborate with local law enforcement agencies. The one that made it onto the bill — from its sponsor, Sen. Tom Sullivan, D-Centennial — requires the agency to communicate with local law enforcement and “deconflict” investigative operations before taking enforcement or investigative action.

The Colorado Chiefs of Police Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation support the bill. County sheriffs and several county governments, including El Paso County, oppose it.

Testimony in the Senate Judiciary Committee prompted comments that local law enforcement agencies are not doing the investigations targeted under SB 3.

Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, spoke at length about what he believes are SB 3’s fundamental problems.

“The bill is a shining example in its brevity (it’s only two pages) in that it doesn’t take much in words to have far-reaching impacts on how your state is governed, how the law enforcement in your state works, and with whom the power and discretion goes,” he said. 

He said the bill’s introduction concerned who has the authority to investigate crimes in Colorado, calling it a massive power grab. The bill’s original version said the CBI could investigate illegal activity involving firearms statewide.

That could have included investigations into drugs, motor vehicle theft, retail theft, robberies or burglaries, and the creation of what Gardner called a statewide police force.

Gardner said this is a change in CBI’s mission, taking local law enforcement’s responsibility and authority and placing it at the state police level.

Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Weld County, added that CBI investigations could interfere with investigations taking place in local communities.

In defense of SB 3, Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, D-Pueblo, said the debate frustrates him. He said he hears from constituents and in emails that the state does not need more gun laws just to enforce the laws on the books — and he doesn’t completely agree with this position.

Hinrichsen pointed out he’s broken from his party on gun policy, voting against some gun bills in the past, and that many of his constituents are concerned about more regulations around firearms.

But he said he also hears from a firearms dealer in his county about how frustrated he gets because he is the only one who does not sell magazines over 20 rounds. People get upset when they can’t buy a high-capacity magazine, knowing it is not legal in Colorado, and that costs the dealer business, he said. 

“That’s a law on the book” that isn’t being enforced, Hinrichsen said, telling a story of a teenager who was murdered by her boyfriend who had access to a semi-automatic pistol. 

“I would love if we had dedicated funds in CBI to help before a child is murdered, to track down when firearms are falling into the hands of children, later used to murder other children,” he said in support of the bill.

Hinrichsen said he didn’t know of any other laws or regulations that say, “We don’t need new laws; we need to enforce the laws we have,” and then lawmakers would take action to block that enforcement.

With the Senate giving preliminary approval of the bill, it will now go to a final vote. If approved, it will go to the House.

In the House, lawmakers considered a bill that would require firearms in motor vehicles be locked up and out of sight.

Bill bans leaving firearms in cars

House Bill 1348, approved by the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday on a 7-3 party-line vote, bans leaving a firearm in a motor vehicle unless stored in a lock box or the vehicle’s trunk.

Cosponsor Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, recounted that guns have been stolen from vehicles at the state Capitol. The Colorado Sun reported a year ago that two guns, both with trigger locks, were stolen from the truck belonging to Rep. Ron Weinberg, R-Loveland, while it was parked in the Capitol lot. 

Denver District Attorney Beth McCann told the committee that more than 1,000 guns were stolen from vehicles between 2022 and early 2024. Nearly 600 vehicles were stolen in 2022 and 2023 that had guns in them, she said.  

However, the number of firearms stolen from homes has declined, with 456 guns stolen in the same period, McCann said, attributing that decrease to a 2021 law that requires safe storage of guns in homes.

Most crimes are crimes of opportunity, McCann said, adding the bill does not interfere with someone’s right to own a handgun. 

Medical student Quinn Scanlon, who studies firearm injury prevention, said vehicles are just as much a part of a child’s environment as their home. Promising safe storage in a vehicle can help prevent the “tragic and panicked” visits he witnesses in emergency rooms as a result — he said — of guns not being securely stored.

Opponents claimed the safest place for a gun is in the owner’s hands, and that requiring guns to be locked up in a car delays a person’s access to the weapon when it’s needed. Keith Emerson said the bill will only make it harder for owners to access their gun.

Trigger locks and lockboxes don’t work, he also claimed. 

“Given proper sentencing of offenders, a locked car should be adequate protection for the contents inside,” Emerson said. “The effort of the sponsoring legislators to define victims of theft as criminals through this bill should not be allowed by this committee.”

While opposed to the bill, the National Shooting Sports Foundation suggested changes to remove the civil penalty listed in it.

The group’s Nephi Cole told the committee that disclosing lost or stolen firearms is already the law in Colorado. The bill should reinforce there is no penalty for reporting a firearm stolen. He said that without such language, people will not report their firearms stolen.

Rep. Ryan Armagost, R-Berthoud, reminded committee members that firearms instructors — he is one — teach their students to safely store their firearms.

That’s not the legislature’s job, he said.

The bill now heads to the full House.

Three other bills scheduled for hearings on Thursday have been postponed due to the snowstorm: Senate Bill 131, which prohibits guns in “sensitive” places, and two bills in the House Business Affairs & Labor Committee that deal with liability insurance and require firearms dealers to hold a state permit.