The Colorado state House on Thursday gave its preliminary approval to a proposal that would bar a person convicted of car theft from owning a gun, legislation that yielded strange bedfellows and split both party caucuses down the middle.

House Bill 1171, sponsored by Reps. Shannon Bird, D-Westminster and House Speaker Pro Tem Andrew Boesenecker, Fort Collins, would strip away a person’s ability to posses a gun if convicted three times for a first-degree motor vehicle theft.

Bird said the bill is intended to deter repeat offenses. Due to increasingly violent motor vehicle thefts, “this change in law is an important improvement in public safety,” she told her House colleagues.

Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta, voted for the bill in the House Judiciary Committee, which passed by one vote. He told the House he should have voted “no,” saying people who are convicted of a crime in which they did not use a firearm should not lose their Second Amendment rights.

He noted that the law already contains an auto theft offense that includes the use of firearms.

Reps. Ryan Armagost, R-Berthoud, and Jarvis Caldwell, R-Monument, who also sit on the judiciary committee, voted in favor of the bill.

They offered an amendment to allow those who have completed their sentences and don’t commit further crimes in the ensuing 10 years to petition a court to restore their ability to possess a firearm.

Armagost and Caldwell are ardent defenders of the Second Amendment; Armagost is a certified weapons instructor and a former Larimer County sheriff’s deputy.

Caldwell noted that the state is making progress in addressing motor vehicle thefts and that the bill would be another addition to those efforts.

“This bill will never affect you if you don’t steal cars,” he said.

On X, Armagost noted he’s being lobbied to vote against the bill by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, whom he said are encouraging him “to vote in favor of repeat felons possessing firearms over law-abiding citizens losing their rights.”

“I’ll break this down for them,” Armagost posted, “I PROTECT PUBLIC SAFETY AND LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS!!!”

Rep. Cecelia Espenoza, D-Denver, also voted in favor of the bill in the judiciary committee but opposed it on the House floor. She said she is worried about the Armagost and Caldwell amendment —  she argued that carving out an exception for auto theft instead of addressing the underlying issue of restoring rights to any felon once the sentence is finished is not a way to do policy.

That amendment won support from the bill’s sponsors and the House.

Rep. Carlos Barron, R-Fort Lupton, said he’s heard about the problem from his police chief and constituents. He said lawbreakers should not be able to possess a weapon.

A later procedural vote to reverse the amendment failed 22-39, with eight Republicans (out of 22) and 31 Democrats (out of 42) voting “no.”

The bill highlighted a rare division within both caucuses over the issue of gun rights.

Outside of the chamber, the bill made some strange bedfellows: The Colorado Criminal Defense Bar and Rocky Mountain Gun Owners opposed it.

In support of the bill, meanwhile, are the Rocky Mountain Ceasefire, multiple cities, the Chiefs of Police Association, and the County Sheriffs of Colorado.

The group led by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords took no position.

House Bill 1171 now heads to a final vote in the House.