Colorado Governor Ritter Vetoes Background Check bill

On Friday, May 15, Governor Bill Ritter (D) vetoed Colorado house Bill 1180.

The bill, passed by both houses, would have exempted Colorado concealed handgun permit holders from the background check requirement for the purchase of a firearm. That may be scary to some people, but the truth is that people who are granted concealed carry permits have to undergo a stringent background check as part of their application.

The current National Instant Check System (NICS) that performs a criminal background check on potential gun buyers at the point of sale is overloaded to the point that there is nothing instant about it. Frequently, buyers have to wait at the gun store for hours while the gun dealer hangs on the phone, waiting for the system to perform the check. Quite often shoppers must return to the store the following day to purchase and pick up their new firearm.

HB1180 would have relieved some of the load on the system by allowing people who have a concealed weapons permit to purchase a firearm (remember, most likely they already own at least one) without having to endure the background check. It should have been a simple administrative change to the system, but the Governor saw fit to not streamline an overloaded procedure.

This wasn't really a gun bill because it didn't change anything except a bureacratic procedure that costs taxpayers money. Feel free to contact the governor at (303) 866-2471.