Colorado lawmakers again trying to repeal ban on large-capacity magazines for guns

DENVER – Two bills introduced in the Colorado Legislature aim to again allow high-capacity magazines in the state and to eliminate a state ban on so-called “gravity knives” and switchblades.

Senate Bill 7, which is sponsored by Sen. Vicki Marble, Rep. Stephen Humphrey and Rep. Lori Saine – all Republicans – would eliminate a section of state statute that bars “large-capacity magazines.”

Statute written in 2013 banned any weapon magazine that could hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition, and in the case of shotguns, any magazine that could hold more than 28 inches of shells. It also banned any magazine that could hold more than eight shotgun shells when combined with a fixed magazine.

The statute also banned the possession, sale or transfer of any large-capacity magazines after July 1, 2013, and required any person in possession of or manufacturer who was making such magazines at the time to have a stamp or marking noting it was made after that date.

The bill, which was assigned to the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, would repeal that entire section of state statute.

The bill also contains a so-called “safety clause” that declares that the Legislature finds the bill “necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety.”

The Senate voted to repeal the magazine limit last year, but that bill died before reaching the governor’s desk.

The issue has gone to court several times since Gov. Hickenlooper first signed the high-capacity magazine ban in 2013 but has never been overturned.

OTHER BILL WOULD ALLOW ‘GRAVITY KNIVES’ AND SWITCHBLADES

Senate Bill 8, sponsored by Sen. Owen Hill, R-El Paso, and Rep. Steve Lebsock, D-Adams, would repeal portions of state statute that ban gravity knives and switchblades.

Gravity knives are currently defined as “any knife that has a blade released from the handle or sheath thereof by the force of gravity or the application of centrifugal force.” Switchblades are defined as “any knife, the blade of which opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, springs, or other device in its handle.”

The proposed bill would remove those two types of weapons from a section detailing the possession of “a dangerous or illegal weapon,” but would leave in place bans on metallic knuckles, blackjacks and gas guns.