Following Four-Year Mark of King Soopers Mass Shooting, Colorado House Passes Monumental Gun Violence Prevention Bill

DENVER — Today, Everytown for Gun Safety and its grassroots network, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, released the following statements after the Colorado House passed a gun violence prevention bill intended to help prevent mass shootings. Senate Bill 3 will create a permit to purchase a system for obtaining military style semiautomatic firearms capable of accepting detachable magazines and prohibiting rapid-fire conversion devices in Colorado. Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers advocated tirelessly for this critical bill, which now heads back to the State Senate for concurrence, the last stop before heading to Governor Jared Polis’ desk to be signed into law. SB 3’s passage comes two days after the four year mark of the mass shooting at ​​a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, where 10 people were killed. SB 3 corrects for the loophole in Colorado’s high capacity magazine ban that the shooter in Boulder took advantage of.

“From Columbine High School to a movie theater in Aurora to a grocery store in Boulder, Coloradans are surrounded by reminders that selling weapons to war to civilians has a terrible cost,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Colorado’s legacy as a national leader on gun safety continues with this effort to keep military-style weapons and rapid-fire devices out of dangerous hands.”

“We’ve seen time and again the devastating toll that comes with easy access to the kinds of military style firearms used in the nation’s deadliest mass shootings. This bill is a monumental step towards keeping these deadly weapons out of dangerous hands and preventing more tragedies in Colorado,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “Our volunteers, students, and survivors are grateful to every lawmaker who chose safety over complacency, and is helping get this lifesaving bill across the finish line.”

“This legislation isn’t an attack on gun ownership — it’s about applying common sense,” said Harrison Tarter, Program Director at Vet Voice Foundation and U.S. Army Veteran. “As a former Army Recon Scout, I understand the differences between types of firearms. This bill focuses on those that fall into a distinct category and warrant stricter oversight. It’s a necessary step toward reducing the devastating toll of mass shootings.”

“Colorado is no stranger to the devastation of mass shootings and many of the tragedies that have ripped apart our communities were carried out with military style semiautomatic weapons equipped with  high capacity magazines,” said Susan Long, a volunteer with the Colorado chapter of Moms Demand Action. “This bill will make our state safer, and as we mark four years since the King Soopers’ mass shooting, it feels undeniably timely to take action and pass a bill that may have prevented such a tragedy in Boulder.”

“Our high school careers has been defined by school shootings and am sick and tired of my state’s recent history being defined by mass shootings, like the King Soopers massacre, whose four year mark was this past weekend,” said Norah Krause, a gun violence survivor and the co-president of the Students Demand Action chapter at Denver East. “My fellow Colorado students and I testified to push for this bill because we demand a future where our classrooms aren’t warzones, where we don’t need to fear bullets when walking through a grocery store. We look forward to the signing of this bill by the Governor and are forever grateful to the bill sponsors, Senators Sullivan and Gonzales and Representatives Boesenecker and Froelich, for their relentless advocacy and vision for a safer Colorado.”

Senate Bill 3 builds on Colorado’s existing high-capacity magazine ban by requiring individuals undergo training and vetting before purchasing semi-automatic military style weapons with detachable magazines. SB 3 also bans outright the sale of all rapid fire conversion devices, which allow handguns to be converted into machine guns:

• High-capacity magazines make shootings more lethal, increasing the amount of ammunition that can be fired before a shooter needs to pause to reload. While Colorado enacted a ban on high capacity magazines in 2013 after the Aurora theater shooting where 12 people were killed and 70 injured, the existing law makes it dangerously easy for mass shooters and criminals to evade, as they can easily cross state lines to legally buy magazines in neighboring states and attach them to high-powered, military style firearms—which are currently legal to sell in Colorado with no safeguards.
• Since Colorado does not currently regulate any type of semi-automatic military style weapon, a potential mass shooter or criminal can legally purchase an exceptionally deadly firearm and obtain a prohibited magazine with relative ease. 
• SB3 creates a permit to purchase semiautomatic military-style weapons with detachable magazines. Requiring individuals to apply for and receive a card (often referred to as purchase permit) prior to a firearm purchase gives law enforcement an opportunity to deny permits to those who pose a danger to public safety, ensure that all firearm purchasers have completed a rigorous safety training course, and complete a thorough background check. 
• The bill would allow semiautomatic military-style weapons to continue to be purchased and sold without a permit so long as they have a permanently affixed magazine.
• SB 3 would also prohibit the sale and purchase of the full range of rapid fire devices which effectively allow shooters to evade federal and state laws regulating machine guns. 
• This bill works to address a loophole in Colorado’s existing high-capacity magazine prohibition by establishing a permit to purchase dangerous semi-automatic military style firearms that can accept high capacity magazines.   
• At least 8 out of the 10 highest-casualty mass shootings involved semi-automatic weapons and a high capacity magazine. In the 2021 Boulder shooting at King Soopers, the shooter legally purchased a Ruger AR-556 semiautomatic pistol which he then paired with multiple high-capacity magazines, which were illegal to possess under Colorado law, and murdered nine people and one in the line of duty. In the 2022 Colorado Springs ClubQ shooting, the attacker perpetrated the attack with a self-assembled AR-15 style rifle and had several high capacity magazines –all illegal magazines under Colorado law.

In an average year, 977 people die and 1,392 are wounded by guns in Colorado. Guns are the second leading cause of death among children and teens in Colorado, and an average of 84 children and teens die by guns every year. Gun violence in Colorado costs $2,039 per resident each year. Gun deaths and injuries cost Colorado $11.7 billion each year, of which $156.1 million is paid by taxpayers. 

To speak with an Everytown policy expert on SB 3 or a Colorado Moms Demand Action or Students Demand Action volunteer, please reach out to [email protected].