Commissioners one step closer to having ability to prohibit unsafe gun discharge

23-1165 passed the first level of the House on Feb. 8 after hearing pros and cons from both sides

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BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE OLOVE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A bill introduced from Clear Creek County that would give commissioners the ability to ban the discharge of rearms in certain unincorporated areas with a certain population density passed 9-4 in the Local Government House Committee on Feb. 8.

Currently, county commissioners may not prohibit the discharge of rearms in unincorporated areas of counties in shooting galleries, on private grounds or in residences under circumstances that do not endanger people or property.

e current law says the area must have a population density of 100 people or more per square mile to prohibit shooting.

HB 23-1165 looks to repeal the exception in the current law for private property and repeal the minimum population density requirement from 100 people or more per square mile to 35 dwellings or more per square mile. is number is an amendment to the bill decided upon with collaboration between local sheri ’s departments. e bill was presented by Rep. Judy Amabile, D-Boulder, and backed by Sen. Dylan Roberts, D and Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D. e bill itself was born out of a small community in unincorporated Clear Creek County in the Idaho Springs neighborhood St. Mary’s Glacier, which has around 300 homes, according to residents.

In spring 2021, Clear Creek County Commissioners, law enforcement and other local agencies started to get calls out of the St. Mary’s Glacier area.

Frank Brown is a homeowner in the area. He testi ed at the rst hearing for the bill.

“As soon as the rearm discharging starts, it’s like an egregious end to all of the peace, the quiet, there’s automatic weapon re, there’s semi-automatic, and it’s so loud animals take o ,” he said.

Beth Ramsey is a part-time resident of St. Mary’s Glacier, and an experienced gun owner and user.

Pet Wants

FROM PAGE 2 anything I wouldn’t give to them.”

Hodge said she hopes the store can become a community hub that supports local vendors.

“I don’t want this to just be a pet store, I want it to be a community gathering space,” Hodge said. “I want it to be a place for people to make friends and connect with e bill will now advance to the oor of the House and must pass through the legislature by mid-May to have a chance at approval by the Governor. people in their community.”

She testi ed on Feb. 8 in support of the bill.

“We are gun owners, we are target shooters,” she said. “What we are seeing in St. Mary’s Glacier on a third-acre lot is wholly unsafe.” Ramsey recalled shooters in the neighborhood using pine trees as backstops, ring large caliber weapons.

“ ey were spraying bullets,” she St. Mary’s Glacier community members reached out to Amabile to seek a bill when they saw no results from local government agencies in Clear Creek County.

Taylor Rhodes, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, testi ed against the bill on Feb. 8, claiming it to be an attack on the Second Amendment.

“ is bill is a preemptive condemnation of all Colorado gun owners as irresponsible hooligans incapable of shooting responsibly on their property,” he said in his testimony. is bill, while inciting claims of amendment violations from gun activists, would only provide counties the option to enforce the ban on rearm discharge in certain areas. e Board of County Commissioners would only be able to do so after holding a notice hearing for the public within their respective counties.

“It’s a little frustrating, because the safety, or lack thereof, has nothing to do with the type of local government that serves you and everything to do with the density of the neighborhood,” Clear Creek County Commissioner George Marlin said.

“Peace and safety? Everyone deserves that,” Marlin said.

To that end, Pet Want’s Arvada location will feature events, including pet massage therapy and rescue pup yoga. Information about events can be found on the Arvada store’s social media.

The Arvada Pet Wants location is currently closed on Mondays and open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.