Colorado Democrats Pass Bold New Gun Control Measures In House Committee [View all]

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Source: Huffington Post

After a full day Tuesday of listening to testimony from gun control advocates and opponents, Colorado Democrats passed two bold new bills aimed at curbing gun violence in a state that has the dubious distinction of being the home to two of the bloodiest mass shootings in American history -- Columbine and Aurora.

First, the House Judiciary Committee passed House Bill 1229, on a 7 to 4 party line vote, which requires universal background checks on all private gun sales in Colorado.

Then, late Tuesday night, the committee passed a bill that bans the sale of high capacity gun magazines that hold more than 15 rounds or more than five shotgun shells. A person who already owns a high-capacity magazine fitting the description would be able to continue to own the magazine but would have to maintain continuous possession of it. Late Tuesday, HP-1224 was amended to increase the amount of rounds in a magazine to 15, instad of 10, and was also passed on a party line vote of 7 to 4. Both bills now head to the House floor for another vote.

Rep. Rhonda Fields (D-Aurora) was a sponsor on both pieces of legislation and was not pleased with the amendment which added an additional five rounds to the maximum capacity of a gun magazine. "Many of those people are critically injured for life because of their wounds," The Denver Post reports that Field said. "These high-capacity magazines allow a gun to fire large amounts of bullets to kill people as fast as possible."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/13/ban-on-high-capacity-maga_n_2670463.html