The Denver Post ran a story by Nick Coltrain teeing up another round of Colorado gun control votes this week, with Democrats pushing two bills they say are about “ghost guns” and public safety. One targets the parts pipeline, the other targets 3D printing, and both are framed as the next logical step in a long list of “next logical steps.”
First up is Senate Bill 43, scheduled for debate in the full Senate, which would restrict the sale of gun barrels to in-person transactions with federally licensed firearm dealers. Later, the House Judiciary Committee is set to hear House Bill 1144, which would prohibit using 3D printers to manufacture firearms, large-capacity magazines, and rapid-fire devices.
The bill also goes further than the printer itself. It would prohibit distributing instructions for 3D-printed firearms and components to unlicensed individuals, with first violations as misdemeanors and second offenses as felonies.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Democrats have two more gun control bills moving this week, because in Colorado the answer is always the same: restrict more, and call it progress.
- SB 43 would require gun barrel sales to happen in person with federally licensed dealers. If you hear “barrels” and think “criminal mastermind,” congratulations, you are now qualified to write legislation.
- HB 1144 would ban using 3D printers to manufacture firearms, large-capacity magazines, and rapid-fire devices, with an exemption for federally licensed firearm manufacturers. The big guys get a lane. Regular people get a new felony pathway.
- HB 1144 would also prohibit distributing instructions for 3D-printed firearms and components to unlicensed individuals. First time is a misdemeanor, second time is a felony. “Information control” is now part of the safety plan.
- The story places these bills in a broader package of Democratic-backed restrictions, including earlier Senate passage of SB 4 expanding who can request extreme risk protection orders, with a House hearing set for March 2. The stack never gets smaller.
My Bottom Line
The gun grabbers will never be happy. It is never enough. There is always another bill. Another restriction. Another “common sense” tweak that somehow always lands on the backs of law-abiding people instead of criminals who already ignore laws like they ignore stop signs.
The 2nd Amendment does not say “shall not be infringed, unless the legislature feels nervous.” It says “shall not be infringed.” And when the state starts telling you what parts you can buy, how you can buy them, and what you can even share or learn about how things work, that is not “safety.” That is infringement, dressed up in polite language and delivered with a press release.
Here is the part that drives people nuts. Colorado keeps piling on restrictions while acting like the problem is the existence of firearms, not the people who commit crimes or the cultural rot that fuels violence in the first place. If the only tool you ever reach for is a hammer, eventually you start seeing every citizen as the nail.
They will call this “targeted.” They will call it “reasonable.” And next year they will be back with another bill, because that is the pattern. It is never enough. And the only people who keep getting squeezed are the people who already follow the rules.
Source: The Denver Post
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