‘COMING AFTER THE STANDARD SHOTGUN’: COLO. GUN BILL THE ‘MOST EXTREME’ PROPOSED FIREARMS LAW

Mar. 2, 2013 11:30am Madeleine Morgenstern

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Image source: KCNC-TV

A bill making its way through the Colorado state Capitol could outlaw the best-selling hunting shotgun in the state.

“They’re coming after the standard shotgun,” Republican state Sen. Greg Brophy told KCNC-TV.

The bill, aimed at banning high-capacity ammunition, has already passed the House and has support from Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper. If it’s signed into law, it will also seriously limit shotguns used by most hunters in the state, according to the station.

“Hundreds of thousands of pheasant hunters are probably going to be carrying around a gun they won’t be able to replace after July 1 this year,” Brophy told KCNC.

In a state that’s seen two of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history — Aurora and Columbine — Brophy said there’s a section of the bill that defines a high-capacity magazine as one that can hold or be converted to hold more than 15 rounds or eight shotgun shells.

“This is where shotgun shells go inside this tube here,” Brophy demonstrated. “You can screw this part off the top and screw on an extender to this tube to allow it to hold more than eight rounds. It is readily convertible, which by definition in the bill, makes the whole thing a high-capacity magazine…we just might not be able to legally purchase a pump shotgun or a semi-automatic shotgun.”

Colorado has several gun bills pending in the state. According to the Denver Post, Vice President Joe Biden called some Democratic lawmakers in the midst of the debate last month and said it would “send a strong message to the rest of the country that a Western state had passed gun-control bills.”

“The law is specific as of July 1. You can keep it, but only if you maintain continuous possession of it,” Brophy told KCNC. “If it breaks, you can’t give to a gunsmith even to fix it. You can’t hand it to your son to use. It’s all now outlawed because of this 1224, the bill that Governor Hickenlooper says he’s going to sign…this is most extreme thing anybody’s ever done related to firearms.”

Democratic lawmakers told the station they are currently working on an amendment to address the issue, to be presented in a committee hearing Monday.

(h/t Drudge Report)