HB 13-1228: CO Fee for Background Check Bill Thread

[JVC]

HB 13-1228: CONCERNING REQUIRING THE COLORADO BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION TO RECOUP THE COST OF PERFORMING AN INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK PRIOR TO THE TRANSFER OF A FIREARM.

Committee assignments:


House Committees: Finance
Senate Committees: Unassigned (as of 2/10/13)


This bill has been assigned to the House Finance Committee, which will be in the position to move this bill ahead, or deny its progress. Email the committee members today and continuously to let them know your views!

Text of the bill: http://www.nraila.org/media/10875498/co_hb_1228.pdf

House Finance Committee Members:


Lois Court
Jeanne Labuda
Brian Delgrosso
Mike Foote
Dan Nordberg
Daniel Kagan
Jenise May
Jovan Melton
Dan Pabon
Kevin Priola
Lori Saine
Spencer Swalm



Emails (for cut and paste): lois.court.house@state.co.us (lois.court.house@state.co.us), brian@briandelgrosso.com (brian@briandelgrosso.com), jeanne.labuda.house@state.co.us (jeanne.labuda.house@state.co.us), mike.foote.house@state.co.us (mike.foote.house@state.co.us), dan.nordberg.house@state.co.us (dan.nordberg.house@state.co.us), repkagan@gmail.com (repkagan@gmail.com), jenise.may.house@state.co.us (jenise.may.house@state.co.us), jovan.melton.house@state.co.us (jovan.melton.house@state.co.us), dan.pabon.house@state.co.us (dan.pabon.house@state.co.us), lori.saine.house@state.co.us (lori.saine.house@state.co.us), kpriola@gmail.com (kpriola@gmail.com), spencer.swalm.house@state.co.us (spencer.swalm.house@state.co.us)

Send them your polite comments, something like: "I understand that you will be in the position to stop the progress of bill 1228, and I encourage you to do so. Forcing law-abiding Colorado gun owners and buyers to pay for the cost of exercising their rights under the U.S. Constitution only serves to punish those who comply with the law. Gun ownership is not a privilege, like driving a car, it is a fundamental right our founders gave us, and making lawful gun purchasers foot the bill for exercising a Constitutional right is wrong. Do not let this legislation make it to a vote."

Website for the House Finance Cmte: http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=CGA-LegislativeCouncil%2FCLCLayout&cid=1251634987724&pagename=CLCWrapper

Colorado General Assembly website: http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2013A/cslFrontPages.nsf/HomeSplash?OpenForm

[The Rat]

Just had a positive pro-2A response from Spencer Swalm. Trying to copy-paste it, but the forum is acting weird on me.

[Dlesh123]

Email sent to all

[JVC]

All,

Here is the response from State Rep. Spencer Swalm on the House Finance Committee to my email encouraging him to oppose bill HB13-1228, which calls for "THE COLORADO BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION TO RECOUP THE COST OF PERFORMING AN INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK PRIOR TO THE TRANSFER OF A FIREARM."

"I assure you that I too respect the Constitutional right to bear arms. Moreover, data indicate that gun-control legislation does not prevent tragic shootings.

I fully expect a great deal of pressure from those who want control over all facets of our lives. In the hope of balancing that pressure, you may want to attend hearings and, if you are willing, speak as you have written.

Thank you for your message and for your defense of our treasured Constitution. I encourage you to continue sharing your thoughts and concerns with me.

Respectfully,

Representative Spencer Swalm"

Here is a link to Rep. Swalm's contact information: http://www.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2013A/directory.nsf/MemberDetailPage?OpenForm&district=37&Chamber=House

Make sure that Rep. Swalm knows he has your support and the other members of the House Finance Committe know how you feel!

[JVC]

Thank you for your efforts. These seemingly small actions can have an impact when Rep. Swalm prints our emails and brings them to the committee hearings. I work very close to the Capitol and plan to attend hearings to the extent I can pull away from work. We good people must not sit idly by while the worst of legislation is advanced.

[Dlesh123]

We will be in your debt if you can attend and if possible speak.

[JVC]

I work very close to the Capitol, and will try to attend a hearing or two. Will try to keep abreast of the scheduling. This is important, and worth the time.

[Circuits]

I'd be fine with this, provided the same standard to prove sanity and citizenship/eligibility applied to voter registration. And a fee to recoup the costs of verifying voter registration and preventing double voting. See where or how far that quid pro quo goes.

[JVC]

Response from State Rep. Dan Nordberg:

"Thanks for taking the time to send me a note.

To address your concerns, I will in no way support misguided attempts to limit our 2nd Amendment rights. As this issue moves forward in the Colorado General Assembly, I'd encourage you to contact Members on the various committees that will be hearing these bills. While I can't be certain, I suspect most of the gun legislation will be heard in either the Local Government Committee (http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=CGA-LegislativeCouncil%2FCLCLayout&cid=1251634987745&pagename=CLCWrapper) or the State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee (http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=CGA-LegislativeCouncil%2FCLCLayout&cid=1251634987752&pagename=CLCWrapper). I serve on the latter and am committed to doing whatever is necessary to obstruct these unconstitutional measures.

Should you have any additional questions or comments, please never hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Dan Nordberg
Colorado State House of Representatives District 14
State Capitol
200 East Colfax, Room"

[Fried Chicken Blowout]

Hello all,

I got an excellent email back from the aide to State Senator Greg Brophy today that I'm going to pass on here. It give some pointers to us on a better way to write our correspondence to the legislators. Please take a look at how you can improve your contacts.


My name is Joseph and I am an aide for Senator Greg Brophy. Senator Brophy has received a huge amount of e-mails regarding upcoming gun legislation over the past few weeks. It’s encouraging to know that so many people are willing to fight for our Second Amendment rights. Now more than ever we need you to contact your legislators. Four bills, House Bills 1224, 1226, 1228, and 1229, will be heard in committee in the next two days. These are the bills we’ve been concerned about; all four are vicious attacks on the rights of gun owners.

Unfortunately, many of the e-mails we’ve received will not be effective in convincing legislators to vote against these bills. There are a few basic guidelines you should follow when trying to communicate effectively with legislators.

Many of these pro-gun rights e-mails are very long. Legislators don’t read long e-mails. They don’t have time. In fact, Senator Brophy is one of the only legislators who answers his own e-mail. Most of the time, e-mail is answered by an aide or other staff person who will probably ignore any message longer than a paragraph or two. You’re much more likely to be heard if you limit your e-mails to a few sentences. Many of these e-mails also contain lectures on the history and importance of gun rights, extensive statistics, and detailed analysis of proposed gun restrictions. Such messages are also ineffective. Have you ever tried to convince your spouse, child, or friend to change their position on something by lecturing them? It’s unfortunate, but e-mails that try to lecture a legislator on gun rights will be sent right to the trash folder.

At this point, what really matters is how senators and representatives plan to vote on proposed gun control measures and whether the governor will sign them. To communicate effectively, simply urge your legislator to vote yes or no on a particular bill, ask how they intend to vote, and request a reply. You have a much better chance of convincing a legislator who is wavering on the issue if you keep your e-mails brief and simply ask for a “no” vote on upcoming gun control bills. Also, don’t be afraid to contact the Governor Hickenlooper. You can reach his office at 303-866-2471 or send him an e-mail from the following page:http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/GovHickenlooper/CBON/1251592968310

Thank you for your activism. I know the situation might look bleak, but if we can effectively make our voices heard, we can take these gun bills down.

Sincerely,
Joseph Caldara
Aide to State Senator Greg Brophy

[merl]

and another committee.

This bill is total bullshit. If the state system costs too much, use the free federal system.

[JVC]

Agreed, and please let your reps know your thoughts.

[Wiggity]

Joseph Caldara

Went to high school with that kid. Good guy.

[mb504]

http://coloradoga.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=5

Now being discussed...

First witness seemed to see the fee as a gun control measure.

[osok-308]

So according to them a fee is not an infringement on a 2nd amendment right, however making people show an I.D. before voting is an infringement of the 1st amendment right?[fail]

[T-Giv]

We are in some serious trouble.

[kidicarus13]

So according to them a fee is not an infringement on a 2nd amendment right, however making people show an I.D. before voting is an infringement of the 1st amendment right?[fail]

There is so much RIGHT about this statement

[bigshane]

House Pass - 33:32

[Raul Duke]

HB1228 Passed 33-31. F%cked again. 3rd time today.

[hammer03]

Is this a tax? Does it violate TABOR?

[mb504]

Is this a tax? Does it violate TABOR?

I think that was brought up and was countered that it wasn't a high enough fee/tax/penalty to violate TABOR

[Sharpienads]

So, since the rationale to pass this was "gun owners are the only ones that use this service, therefore they should pay for it", does this mean that my taxes will dramatically decrease? The way I see it, I require very little from the state. I don't have kids, have yet to require emergency services, do not receive welfare. The only major thing I can think of is I drive on the roads. Is this really the path they want to go down? Taxes tied to the amount of government services used?

[merl]

So, since the rationale to pass this was "gun owners are the only ones that use this service, therefore they should pay for it", does this mean that my taxes will dramatically decrease? The way I see it, I require very little from the state. I don't have kids, have yet to require emergency services, do not receive welfare. The only major thing I can think of is I drive on the roads. Is this really the path they want to go down? Taxes tied to the amount of government services used?

only when they can also use it as punishment. They cannot pass a direct tax because of TABOR or it would have simply been a 15% sales tax on firearms & ammunition.

The funniest thing about this fee is:
http://www.nraila.org/media/10883516/nij-gun-policy-memo.pdf (Sorry I think it is too recent to show up as a direct link on the NIJ website)



Require all gun transfers to occur at an FFL
Some states, such as California, require all transfers of guns to be properly documented (since 1923).
This usually requires the involvement of a federally licensed dealer in the transaction. Despite this, straw
purchasing continues largely unabated. Wachtel (1998) describes some straw purchasing of crime guns
for Los Angeles between 1988 and 1995. There are disincentives to following the law in California ($35
and a waiting period). Such a process can discourage a normally law-abiding citizen to spend the time
and money to properly transfer his or her firearm to another. To be effective, requiring all transfers to
occur at an FFL needs to be coupled with all the necessary incentives (or at least no disincentives) for
unlicensed sellers to follow the law. Sanctions and threats of penalties are insufficient.