Colorado Democrats introduce bill to ban transfer of assault weapons in state

Colorado Democrats have introduced a bill that would ban the sale and transfer of assault weapons in the state.

The Friday introduction of the bill came as Denver high school students marched on the Colorado Capitol building to protest gun violence after the death of a fellow student, The Colorado Sun reported.

The bill would prohibit the “manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell, or transferring ownership of an assault weapon” and ban possession of “a rapid-fire trigger activator,” according to the summary text.

A top Democrat sponsor of the bill, state Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, took his name off the bill amid tensions in the state House over its provisions and frustration over its progress, The Denver Post reported.

Colorado Public Radio reported that this will be the first time the Colorado state legislature formally weighs an assault weapons ban.

Colorado has been the site of multiple high-profile mass shootings in recent years, including an attack on an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs in November, in which five people were killed and 25 others injured by a gunman wielding an assault-style rifle.

Efforts are underway in several states and at the national level to push assault weapons bans forward amid high levels of gun violence nationwide.

According to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, there have been 102 mass shooting incidents in the first two months of 2023 in which four or more people, other than the attacker, were shot.

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