Max's Minute | Blogspot

This week at the Colorado General Assembly , I opposed the expansion of Colorado’s red flag firearm seizure authority because it represents another step away from the constitutional structure that protects the rights of every Coloradan. SB26-004 has now passed the legislature and is headed to Jared Polis . The bill expands who may petition courts to remove firearms from citizens who have not been convicted of a crime. It adds institutional actors such as certain health care facilities, behavioral health treatment facilities, K-12 schools, and colleges and universities. That change increases the number of pathways through which the state can suspend a constitutional right based on allegation rather than adjudication. That is not a technical adjustment. It is an erosion of due process protections. The Second Amendment exists to limit government authority. It does not exist to make firearm ownership conditional on whether institutions believe a citizen should retain that right. When t...

The HB26-1021 Second Amendment Protection Act was killed in committee on a strict party-line vote. Despite the setback, the hearing produced strong debate and opened doors for future discussions about gun rights, constitutional limits, and policy direction. The fight over firearm law reform in Colorado is far from over. HB26-1021 aimed to repeal a large number of Colorado firearm regulations. These included background check requirements for private transfers, safe storage mandates, age limits and waiting periods, permitting requirements for dealers, local ordinance authority, magazine restrictions, gun show rules, and the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. The bill’s sponsors and supporters argued that many of these laws have not demonstrated effectiveness in reducing criminal gun violence. The bill was defeated in the House Judiciary Committee by a 7-4 vote along party lines. Opponents framed it as a threat to public safety because it would have repealed nearly all of Colorado’s g...

When SB25-003 was introduced, it was clear from the beginning that this legislation was not merely flawed - it was unconstitutional. This bill, now signed into law, criminalizes the future sale, transfer, and even possession of widely owned semiautomatic firearms and firearm components that law-abiding Coloradans use every day to protect themselves and their families. It redefines long-standing tools of self-defense as “dangerous weapons,” pushing the boundaries of both state and federal constitutional protections. Let me be clear: this was never a legitimate public safety bill. It was a political maneuver to erode your Second Amendment rights and test how far progressive lawmakers could push Colorado away from the Constitution. And House Republicans fought it every step of the way. What We Did We debated this bill for over 13 straight hours on the House floor - the longest debate of the session. We offered more than 30 substantive amendments to introduce real public safety measures, ...

Last Friday, the Colorado Senate passed SB25-003 , the so-called “Semiautomatic Firearms & Rapid-Fire Devices” bill, as amended by the House – and with that vote, the legislation is now on its way to the Governor’s desk. It’s a deeply flawed and constitutionally questionable bill that infringes on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, and I want to take a moment to explain just how hard Republicans fought this – and why our work is not done. When this bill came to the House floor, Republicans from all over the state stood together in a unified, tireless effort to defeat it. We brought forward dozens of thoughtful, reasonable, and constitutional amendments in good faith. We stayed on the floor until late in the evening, debating this bill with everything we had. I’ve never been prouder to stand beside my colleagues in defense of the Constitution, public safety, and the rights of law-abiding Coloradans. But after more than 13 hours of floor debate and every amendment ...

Last Friday, March 21, the Colorado House of Representatives spent over 13 grueling hours debating SB25-003 - legislation aimed at banning a broad swath of semi-automatic firearms and firearm accessories under the guise of public safety. As Republicans, we fought tooth and nail, offering more than 30 sensible, reasonable amendments to improve or at least mitigate the damaging effects of this bill. Yet every proposal fell on deaf ears. Instead of engaging in good-faith debate, the majority party plowed ahead, rejecting every attempt to inject logic, fiscal sanity, or constitutional restraint into their legislation. Let’s be clear: SB25-003 will do nothing to reduce gun crime. Criminals, by definition, do not abide by laws. The firearms targeted in this bill are widely owned by law-abiding citizens for sport, hunting, and self-defense. Stripping these citizens of their rights does not disarm violent offenders - it simply punishes responsible Coloradans exercising their constitutionall...

On Friday, SB25-003 (Semiautomatic Firearms & Rapid-Fire Devices) passed through the House Finance Committee despite clear constitutional, fiscal, and logistical concerns. The bill, which seeks to criminalize the future ownership, sale, transfer, and purchase of many common semiautomatic firearms and accessories, is not only a blatant violation of the Second Amendment but also a reckless financial burden on a state that is already drowning in a $1.4 billion (and growing) budget deficit. As if the bill itself weren’t problematic enough, an amendment ( L.055 ) was added to strip funding from Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) - an agency funded not by general tax dollars, but by hunters, anglers, and park visitors who pay for the conservation and recreational programs that sustain our state’s outdoor economy. This amendment does nothing to reduce the financial burden of the bill but instead drains resources from conservation efforts, leaving Parks & Wildlife underfunded while s...

In a disappointing turn of events, the Colorado House committee’s decision to kill HB25-1055 means that HB24-1353 - a deeply flawed bill - will continue to impose unnecessary burdens on law-abiding firearms dealers and responsible gun owners in our state. Let’s be clear: HB25-1055 was the solution, not the problem. Its purpose was to repeal the misguided HB24-1353, which seeks to establish an additional state licensing authority for firearms dealers - a move that defies common sense and accomplishes nothing in the fight against gun crime. One of the most glaring flaws of HB24-1353 is its cost. Enforcement of this redundant regulation is projected to cost Colorado about $3 million a year at a time when our state is already facing a budget crisis that requires cutting $1 billion due to reckless overspending by Democrats. These budget cuts won’t just affect abstract numbers; they will directly impact funding for education, healthcare, and other essential services that Colorado families ...

The Colorado General Assembly passed HB25-1133 , a bill that would ban the sale of ammunition to anyone under 21 years old. As a staunch defender of constitutional rights and a representative of the people, I find it deeply troubling - not just because it's unconstitutional, but because a bipartisan amendment was added to the bill that exposes a fundamental truth that cannot be ignored. In a rare bipartisan effort, the Majority Leader, Representative Monica Duran (D-HD23), and the Minority Leader, Representative Rose Pugliese (R-HD14), introduced Amendment L.037. This amendment carves out an exemption for individuals under 21 who are identified as "protected persons" in a protection order.  In other words, if a young adult has a protection order against someone who may do them harm, they become the exceptions allowed to purchase ammunition for self-defense. This amendment, while intended as a compromise, actually highlights the very principle the Second Amendment was writ...

House Bill 25-1133 - a bill that prohibits the sale of ammunition to anyone under the age of 21 - should have died in the Business Affairs & Labor Committee. The votes were there to stop it. The arguments against it were clear and compelling. Yet, in a blatant act of political manipulation, the majority party ensured its passage by swapping out a "no" vote from their party for a member who had already signaled she would vote “yes.” When faced with losing a bill deemed “important” because its primary sponsor holds a leadership position in the majority party, they simply changed the committee’s makeup to guarantee the outcome they wanted. This is not how representative government should function. The bill itself is a direct infringement on the Constitutional rights of 18-20-year-old citizens. During the hearing, supporters argued that younger citizens could stand not exercising their rights in this instance. But that’s not how rights work. An 18-year-old can vote, enter in...

SB25-003, the so-called " Semiautomatic Firearms & Rapid-Fire Devices " bill, has passed its second reading in the Colorado Senate and is now on its way to a third. Along the way, it has been amended multiple times, adding layers of complexity and, critically, a massive price tag that now requires a fiscal note. This is where the bill will collapse under the weight of its own reckless ambition. The reality is this: SB25-003 is not just unconstitutional - it is fiscally indefensible. An Unaffordable Power Grab This bill is a sweeping attempt to criminalize law-abiding gun owners under the false pretense of public safety, but in doing so, it creates an entirely new law enforcement agency under the Department of Revenue - one that the state simply cannot afford to implement or sustain. Let’s look at the numbers: The Department of Natural Resources will need $550,000 in FY 2025-26 and another $275,000 annually after that. The Department of Public Safety will require $1.8 mill...

SB25-003 , which seeks to ban virtually all semiautomatic firearms capable of accepting detachable magazines, is an outright attack on the constitutional rights of Coloradans. The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution unequivocally protects the right to keep and bear arms, a right reaffirmed by multiple landmark Supreme Court rulings. This proposed legislation not only violates that fundamental right but also ignores clear evidence that gun restrictions like these do nothing to enhance public safety. Instead, they create fertile ground for continued increased crime, leaving law-abiding citizens defenseless while emboldening criminals. A Clear Violation of the Constitution The Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down laws that infringe upon the Second Amendment. In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Court ruled that individuals have the right to possess firearms independent of militia service, and that this right extends to weapons “in common use” for lawful purpose...