It’s take three for the unpopular, anti-gun SB 3 returning Thursday to the Colorado Senate floor

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice

It’s a déjà vu moment in the Colorado Senate.

Senate Bill 25-003 will be up for a second reading Thursday, Feb. 13, for the third time in three weeks. The bill, which some have said would make Colorado the most anti-gun state in the country, has been laid over twice — in a Democrat-controlled Senate — almost assuredly because the majority party does not have the votes to pass the measure.

Without a second reading the bill is frozen in the Senate and may not be taken up by the Colorado House. The Senate convenes at 9 a.m. Thursday.

SB 3 is a wildly unpopular bill among conservatives and among vulnerable Democrats, many of whom believe it is unconstitutional. If passed, the bill, led by Democrat Sens. Tom Sullivan and Julie Gonzales and sponsored by Democrat Reps. Andrew Boesenecker and Meg Froelich, would explicitly prohibit the manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale and purchase of common-use, gas-operated semi-auto rifles or shotguns and gas-operated semi-auto pistols, all with detachable magazines.

In other words, the bill would restrict any new purchase of firearms with detachable magazines, and the transfer or sale of said firearms. Not only would the bill ban AR model rifles, it would ban countless other common use rifles, shotguns and handguns. The bill would essentially put every gun store in the state out of business.

“The lipstick is slowly washing off the pig,” said Ian Escalante, executive director for Rocky Mountain Gun Owners in a Twitter/X post.

The lipstick is slowly washing off the pig. Even utra-liberal CPR is admitting that this is one of the most sweeping gun bans in the nation!!#coleg #copolitics pic.twitter.com/fA5JhnQFNs

— Ian Escalante (@iancesca1776) February 7, 2025

Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, a Pueblo County Democrat and the majority party’s whip, delivered the first blow to the bill when he declared his opposition in its current form. He only supports the bump-stock ban portion of the bill.

“I believe that, broadly, semi-automatic firearm ownership, by law-abiding individuals, is protected by the 2nd Amendment,” Hinrichsen writes in a letter defining his position. “Most semi-automatic weapons have detachable magazines. On many semi-automatic firearms, having a detachable magazine is a critical component for proper maintenance and for safety in the event of a misfeed.”

Hinrichsen has not always been aligned with 2nd Amendment advocates, including, for example, his support of ghost gun and high-capacity magazine bans. He has, alternatively, opposed such legislation as mandatory waiting periods and increasing the age of firearm purchase from 18 to 21.

Then, the bill lost Sen. Marc Snyder, who initially was a co-sponsor. Snyder told The Colorado Sun he didn’t initially understand the bill’s full effect when he agreed to co-sponsor.

Passage of a bill in the Senate requires 18 votes, and in addition to Hinrichsen and Snyder, Democrats Dylan Roberts and Kyle Mullica may also be defecting. The full Republican caucus of 12 senators is expected to oppose the bill, meaning it may still have the votes to pass, if Rocky Mountain Gun Owners executive director Ian Escalante is not correct that there are other Democrats unwilling to support it — such as Lindsey Daugherty and Dafna Michaelsen Jenet.

Adds Gun Owners of America, known as the no-compromise gun lobby in Washington, D.C., in a posting on the bill, “This atrocious bill spits directly in the face of the 2nd Amendment, the Heller, McDonald and Bruen decisions from the Supreme Court, and turns law-abiding citizens into criminals for wanting to purchase commonly owned firearms.”

Gun Owners of America, like RMGO, has advocated for a ‘no’ vote by senators on the legislation.

CO: Lawmakers Advance Semi-Auto Ban!

The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) has additionally called the SB 3 an “all-encompassing semi-automatic ban” and has advocated for its members to encourage senators to oppose the bill.