Colorado Democrats are back at it, because of course they are. The Denver Gazette reports a Senate committee advanced Senate Bill 004 to expand Colorado’s red flag law.
It happened at the Capitol, where a 3-2 party-line vote in the Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee sent the bill to the full Senate. The change would let health care facilities, mental health centers, and educational institutions petition a judge to temporarily restrict someones access to firearms.
The Bullet Point Brief
- A Colorado Senate committee advanced Senate Bill 004 on a 3-2 party-line vote.
- The bill expands who can petition a judge under Colorados Extreme Risk Protection Order law.
- Colorado adopted the ERPO law in 2019, allowing family or law enforcement to petition for up to 364 days.
- Lawmakers expanded petitioners in 2023 to include certain professionals like health care providers, mental health professionals, educators, and district attorneys.
- Supporters say it helps reduce gun crimes; critics argue overreach and due process concerns.
My Bottom Line
Let’s not pretend this is about one more tool in the toolbox. Colorado Democrats will not stop until they have completely decimated your God-given Second Amendment right to self-protection.
First, it was family and cops. Then it was educators, providers, and prosecutors. Now it is whole institutions. That’s the tell. If it worked, they wouldn’t need a mandate sized like a snowball rolling downhill.
And don’t sell me the line that this preserves relationships by letting institutions file instead of individuals. We want the power without the accountability, and we want the paperwork to do the dirty work.
If your safety plan requires turning constitutional rights into a permission slip, your plan sucks.
Here’s a smarter fix: protect due process like your own kid might need it someday, focus on real access to treatment and intervention, and keep decisions as close to the facts and the family as possible, not handed off to institutions with policies, lawyers, and incentives. If we want safer communities, we should measure results and tighten standards, not widen the net and call it compassion.
Source: The Denver Gazette
