Polis Defends Against Attempt to Undercut State Gun Safety Laws

Press Release

Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., rejected Republican attempts to move forward the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, legislation championed by the National Rifle Association (NRA). Under this bill, a person who is barred from buying a gun in one state can travel to another state with weaker gun laws, receive a permit, and carry that gun legally anywhere he wants, even in the state where he was originally refused a permit.

"Colorado already has reciprocal concealed carry agreements with 33 other states that have high standards for background checks. After the Columbine shooting, Coloradans chose to enact sensible gun safety laws, voting to close the gun show loophole. The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act undercuts states' rights and gun safety laws that other states have adopted," said Polis. "Congress needs to take meaningful action, and at the bare minimum, we shouldn't undermine states that have been brave enough to address gun violence in the absence of federal leadership."

Polis is a co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation that would ban the manufacture, sale, and use of bump stocks and other similar devices used to convert firearms into illegal automatic weapons. In addition, he has cosponsored the bipartisan Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act, which would require comprehensive background checks for firearm purchases. He opposed anti-gun violence prevention bills that would have prevented the Veterans Administration and the Social Security Administration from entering crucial mental health information into the federal background check database. He has also supported a resolution to establish a congressional committee on gun violence prevention.

Polis wrote an opinion-editorial in the Boulder Daily Camera outlining his support for three key priorities of the gun violence prevention movement: comprehensive background checks, ending the congressional ban on public health research into the root causes of gun violence, and prohibiting gun purchases to anyone on an FBI terrorism watch list.

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