Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed four new gun control bills on Friday afternoon, adding measures to restrict gun purchases and imposing new legal liabilities on the gun industry.
The gun control measures Polis signed into law included a bill to raise the minimum age to purchase a firearm in the state to 21 years old and another bill that will make firearms purchasers wait an additional three days after clearing a background check before a firearms seller will give them the product they purchased.
A third bill expands on the list of people who can petition a court to impose a so-called extreme risk protective order (ERPO) that allows law enforcement officers to temporarily seize a person’s firearms if the court determines that person poses a risk of harm to themselves or others. When Colorado originally implemented this ERPO system—commonly referred to as a “Red Flag” law—only a family member, household member, law enforcement officer, or law enforcement agency could file a petition to have a person’s firearms taken away. The new bill now also allows licensed medical care providers, licensed mental health care providers, licensed educators, and district attorneys to request such firearms seizures.
A fourth bill Polis signed into law would allow victims of gun violence or the Colorado state attorney general to sue a member of the firearm industry for damages. While Colorado’s existing laws did not allow for lawsuits over the criminal misuse of a firearm product and instead only allowed lawsuits for product defects, this new law will allow for lawsuits based on the premise that a firearm industry member failed to implement “reasonable controls and precautions” over how they market and sell their products.
“Today we are taking some important steps to help make Colorado one of the ten safest states, and building upon the ongoing work to make Colorado communities safer,” Polis said in a press statement Friday. “Last year, I was proud to sign a comprehensive public safety plan of action into law to put Colorado on track to becoming one of the ten safest states in the nation, and this legislation today will improve public safety and reduce gun violence.”
Democrats, who hold strong majorities in both houses of the Colorado state legislature, passed the four gun control bills earlier this year despite resistance from lawmakers in the Republican minority. In March, House Republicans filibustered some of the gun control bills for several days through protracted debate, before Democrats overcame the delay tactic by invoking a rule limiting debate to one hour per bill.
Gun Rights Activists Raise Challenges
Shortly after Polis signed the raft of gun control bills, gun rights groups filed lawsuits to stop the bills raising age limits and waiting periods for gun purchases. Other states have faced lawsuits over similar gun control measures.
Earlier this month, a federal judge struck down a Minnesota law prohibiting 18- to 20-year-olds from obtaining permits to carry handguns in public. Judge Katherine Menendez cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last June in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen in her decision to rule against the Minnesota law.
Gun rights groups have also challenged laws in other states, which seek to impose legal liabilities on the firearms industry. The ability to sue the gun industry when their products are used in crimes has been the subject of years of legal debates. Opponents of such measures have argued that a gun maker being sued by the victim of a gun crime in which their product was used by the criminal perpetrator is akin to “Ford being sued for the actions of a drunk driver who was driving an F-150.”
As Colorado lawmakers debated allowing medical care providers, licensed mental health care providers, licensed educators, and district attorneys to petition for ERPOs, Republicans argued that the law would discourage people—especially military veterans—from candidly speaking with doctors and mental health professionals for fear of having their weapons seized.
In 2005, the U.S. Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which generally protects firearm industry members from civil liability over the criminal misuse of their products. The National Shooting Sports Foundation has challenged a New Jersey law imposing legal liabilities on firearm industry members, arguing that it conflicts with the protections of the PLCAA. U.S. District Judge Zahid Nisar Quraishi issued a preliminary injunction blocking New Jersey from pursuing such firearm industry lawsuits while the legal challenge to the law persists.
While Colorado Republicans were unable to stop Democrats from passing the four gun control bills Polis signed on Friday, a Colorado House committee voted last week to shelf a bill implementing a ban on “assault weapons,” which includes numerous semiautomatic firearms. Four Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee voted along with the Republican minority to indefinitely postpone debate on the measure.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.