Colorado governor signs gun laws after mass shooting at Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub

Grace Hauck, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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The governor of Colorado on Friday signed four bills that aim to combat gun violence – the most recent state to take action this month in the wake of a mass shooting.

"This legislation today will improve public safety and reduce gun violence," Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement.

The new laws increase the minimum age to purchase any firearm from 18 to 21, establish a three-day waiting period between purchasing and taking possession of a firearm and expand the state's existing red flag law. Another aims to make it easier for victims of gun violence to sue the gun industry.

Gun rights groups filed lawsuits Friday over the new restrictions on waiting periods and minimum purchasing age. The groups cite a key Supreme Court decision last year that expanded gun rights.

The legislation comes months after a 22-year-old man fatally shot five people and wounded more than a dozen others at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs.

Colorado Sen. Tom Sullivan, whose son was killed in the 2012 mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, sponsored two of the bills.

States take action after mass shootings

Earlier this month, the governor of Michigan signed legislation aimed at preventing gun violence after a mass shooting at Michigan State University left three people dead and five injured.

In Tennessee, the governor signed an executive order aimed at strengthening background checks for firearm purchases after a mass shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville killed three children and three staff members.

Meanwhile, Washington this week became the tenth state to ban some so-called "assault weapons." The state's ban specifically applies to military-style semiautomatic weapons, including AR- and AK-style firearms. Illinois adopted a similar ban earlier this year, after the mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park.

Dig deeper on Colorado Springs mass shooting

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Colorado gun control bills become law after mass shooting at Club Q