On Wednesday, members of the state House of Representatives in Colorado reportedly voted against a bill that would have banned so-called “assault weapons.”
Three Democrats joined with Republicans in voting against the legislation, which resulted in the bill being defeated by a close margin.
The proposed legislation in Colorado, known as HB23-1230, would have made it unlawful to produce, import, buy, sell, or otherwise transfer an “assault weapon.”
Moreover, it would have made it illegal for a person to be in possession of a rapid-fire trigger activator.
Following many hours of debate, the bill was ultimately defeated by a vote of 7-6 among the legislators.
Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, a local gun rights organization, is responsible for the organizing of hundreds of witnesses who testified against the planned passage of the “assault weapons” ban.
Around this time, the state of Washington voted to outlaw over fifty different types of rifles, one of which being the ubiquitous AR-15.
The legislation prohibits the sale of guns as well as their distribution, production, and importation, with a few notable exemptions including those for members of the armed forces and police enforcement.
After a mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas the previous year in which the shooter used the device to kill 58 people, the Trump administration decided in 2018 to ban bump stocks, a device that enables a semi-automatic firearm to fire at a rate close to that of an automatic weapon.
Since then, the regulation that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued to outlaw bump stocks has been tossed around in the federal court system.
In January, it was struck down by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which stated that the ATF lacked the congressional authority to enact the ban and that it was therefore unconstitutional. However the prohibition is still in force at this time.
[READ MORE: Buzzfeed News Reaps What It Sowed]
