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Date: 2/6/2024
Subject: Let the Representatives Hear from You
From: Rionda Osman



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The Legislative session is underway !

The first gun safety bills have been introduced, and you have an opportunity to weigh in. 

What you can do:

Contact your Representative to voice your support for the bill.  You can ask them not only to vote for the bill when it comes to them, but also to sign on as co-sponsors.
Here are two bills currently being heard in the Senate. 

Senate Bill 24-003 CBI Authority To Investigate Firearms Crimes


Links:  Bill text:  https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb24-003 (as introduced)

            Fiscal:  https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2024A/bills/fn/2024a_sb003_00.pdf

            Amendment (as of 6 February 2024):  amendment to SB24-003

 

Sponsors:  Senator Sullivan (D Dist 27 Arapahoe-Douglas)

                    Representative Froelich (D Dist 3 Arapahoe-Denver)

 
The Legislative Action Committee voted to support this bill, based on our Gun Safety position. 
 
The bill was heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on 5 February 2024.  It passed with an amendment by 3-2 and was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill asks for $1.7M to fund personnel and a tip line.  Much of the discussion concerned jurisdictional issues and channels of communication. 
  
Below is an excerpt of the written testimony submitted for the Judiciary Committee hearing: 
 

In recent years, Colorado has enacted gun safety laws to protect our citizens, and Colorado has received an A- on the Giffords 2023 Gun Law Scorecard (Giffords Law Center Annual Gun Law Scorecard https://giffords.org/lawcenter/resources/scorecard/?scorecard=CO ).  In order for these laws to have most effect, they must be enforced consistently and fairly.

 

At the present time, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation does not have the authority or the resources to investigate illegal firearm activity throughout the state.  Currently, the CBI only informally investigates egregious illegal attempts of firearms purchases through the InstaCheck system when resources are available.  The InstaCheck system reported nearly 6,800 denials of a firearm transfer in 2022.  Most of those denials were resolved through an appeals process.  However, thousands of illegal attempts to obtain a firearm should have been followed up. 

 

This bill would establish a dedicated illegal gun investigations team and a tip line for reporting straw purchases and related activity.  This team will be able to address illegal attempts to acquire a firearm, illegal transfers, personally manufactured firearms (ghost guns), and related illegal firearm activity.  Additionally, the CBI will be able to liaison with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and with local law enforcement to identify and investigate the gaps between federal firearms investigations and state and local firearms crimes.

 

Enforcement of our gun safety laws is a necessary part of protecting public safety.  This bill will allow the CBI to do more to keep firearms from those who should not have them. 

I urge you to support SB24-003 – CBI Authority to Investigate Firearms Crimes


Senate Bill 24-066 Firearms Merchant Category Code

 

Links:  Bill text:  https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb24-066 (as introduced)

              Fiscal note:  https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2024A/bills/fn/2024a_sb066_00.pdf

 

Sponsors:  Senator Sullivan (D Dist 27 Arapahoe-Douglas)

                    Representative Froelich (D Dist 3 Arapahoe-Denver)

 

The Legislative Action Committee voted to support this bill based on our position on Gun Safety.   There were several questions about how the codes work and how detailed the information generated would be. Senator Sullivan responded to a query: 

 
... The idea is that firearms and the associated items will be treated like all other products sold in the world. The data will be used by the credit card companies and can be accessed by law enforcement like they do to stop money laundering and human trafficking .... If you buy a firearm and use credit to pay for it regardless of where it will be assigned a code.
 
The bill is scheduled for the Thursday 8 February 2024 meeting of the Senate Business, Labor, and Technology Committee. 
 
Summary from Fiscal Note: 
 
Starting September 1, 2024, the bill requires payment card networks to make a merchant category code for firearms available for merchant acquirers that provide services for firearms merchants. Merchant acquirers are entities that process debit, credit, or prepaid transactions. Starting May 1, 2025, the bill requires merchant acquirers to assign the merchant category code for firearms to each firearms merchant to which they provide services. A contract containing a waiver of these requirements is void.
 

Payment card networks provide services to route debit, credit, or prepaid transactions between bank participants, including credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard.   This bill will require credit card networks to assign Merchant Category Codes (MCC) to businesses that sell firearms and ammunition.  The MCC code identifies the type of business or service that is being sold and allows purchases to be categorized and tracked.  By identifying firearm purchases, financial institutions can report suspicious activity, as required by law. 

 
This type of labeling of purchases will allow banks to report unusual activity:  purchases of massive amounts of ammunition, purchases of unusual numbers of firearms.  Potentially, this information can be used by researchers to determine numbers of firearms being purchased, etc.
 
 



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