Colorado long has been a gun-friendly state, respecting the Colorado Constitution’s assurance that “the right of no person to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person and property … shall be called into question …”

That could change, as the Colorado House passed a bill last weekend to outlaw “the manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell, or transferring” of common guns sold by Main Street shops and nearly every major outdoor retail chain.

About 38% of Colorado adults live in homes containing one or more guns. Semi-automatic is the most common firing mechanism for pistols and long guns. These are guns kept and used mostly for self-defense and hunting.

Legislative Democrats want ordinary Coloradans to think the bill outlaws “assault weapons.” The first line of the bill says it will forbid any person from buying, selling or transferring an “assault weapon.”

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This sounds reasonable, because “assault weapon” sounds menacing — even to someone inclined to support gun rights for self-defense or lawful hunting. One might naturally assume “assault weapons” compare to machine guns used in battle — something no balanced, law-abiding person would want or need outside military or law-enforcement service.

Do not be deceived. The bill would outlaw tens of thousands of guns identical to those owned by more than a million Coloradans — of whom a negligible percentage have committed violent crimes with or without guns.

The bill lists dozens of guns by name while defining “assault weapon” to include a handgun “that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine.”

That includes nearly every pistol such as the Glock 19 found in more than 5 million American homes. The law would include any gun that: 1. shoots a centerfire round, which is anything more powerful than a .22 caliber rimfire; 2. accepts a magazine (typical rifles and handguns); and 3. is semiautomatic, meaning it fires one round and self-loads.

Guns meeting the Legislature’s definition of “assault weapons” are mostly kept for hunting or personal protection. Yet, the radicals proposing this bill want the public to think it affects only deranged people on the margins. The bill says guns in question are “hyper masculine” and appeal to “the very people most likely to acquire such weapons as a means to gain infamy as a mass shooter.”

If passed long ago, the bill would not have stopped the gun massacre of 230 people along Sand Creek in 1864 — 21 years before Austrian engineer Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher invented semi-auto reloading.

It would not have stopped Colorado’s second-deadliest massacre — the 1955 downing of United Air Lines Flight 629 over Longmont. A psycho on the ground instantly and easily killed 44 with a homemade bomb, like those used during the Columbine High School massacre.

Gov. Jared Polis should stop this deceptive proposal before it clears the Senate. If Polis signs the bill, he will go down as Colorado’s most notorious gun grabber and the top seller of guns. Any such law will cause an unprecedented gun-buying spree before taking effect. It is a lose-lose for Polis, rendering him politically nonviable for national office throughout the Midwest and South.

Gun rights, like free speech, are not without exception. Reasonable regulations, such as background checks, save lives. Gun laws surgically crafted to enhance peace and justice, while deterring crime, merit consideration.

House Bill 1292 offers no strategy, precision or prospect of peace. It merely forbids common guns for people who obey laws and have them for good reasons.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board