Colorado Democrats have passed more than a dozen gun control laws over the past couple of years, including new restrictions on concealed carry holders that have left many gun owners, law enforcement, and firearms instructors scratching their heads. While these Democrats have taken aim at the right to bear arms, they’ve also empowered dangerous individuals by making it easier to put them back on the streets instead of under lock and key.
Last year Democrats enacted a new law that requires individuals who are deemed incompetent to stand trial to be released from custody if there is no room for them in a mental health facility. In theory, that might make sense; why warehouse someone who’s dangerously mentally ill in a jail when they need supervised mental health care. In practice, though, this means that individuals accused of serious violent offenses are being released with no supervision whatsoever thanks to the Democrats’ unwillingness to adequately address the state’s shortage in inpatient mental health care beds. As the Colorado Springs Gazette reported last month, a 2022 report by Colorado Newsline found that “people awaiting competency restoration services had to wait an average of 88 days, up from 12 days in 2021 and 45 days in 2020.”
Just this week the Weld County Sheriff’s office alerted the public after it had to release a 21-year-old man who’d been charged with attempted second-degree murder after a court found him incompetent to stand trial.
Ephraim Debisa was arrested in April by the Greeley Police Department on suspicion of criminal attempt to commit second-degree murder, first-degree assault with serious bodily injury, and engaging in a riot, the sheriff’s office said. He received additional charges from another incident later that month while in custody, including menacing with a weapon and first-degree burglary.
But Debisa was found not competent to stand trial, and because there were no services available at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo, he was released into the public, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office released a video on social media showing violent attacks, which they say were perpetrated by Debisa.
“We’re releasing someone that we don’t think should be released,” Weld County Sheriff Captain Matt Turner said. “We’re releasing someone who is a danger to the community.”
In one case from earlier this year Debisa was accused of holding a victim at gunpoint, despite the fact that he had an active Extreme Risk Protection Order against him that supposedly prevented him from possessing a firearm.
“Red flag” laws are another way for lawmakers to claim they’re doing something about dangerous individuals without actually treating their dangerousness, which costs money. “Red flag” laws don’t require hiring new mental health workers or expanding the number of beds at state-run psychiatric facilities. In fact, there’s no mental health component at all to Colorado’s Extreme Risk Protection Order statute. It’s a judge, not a doctor, who assesses someone’s dangerousness, and if an order is granted there’s no mental health care offered or mandated after an individual’s guns have been taken from them.
The Democrats’ refusal to get serious about Colorado’s mental health crisis is bad enough, but when its coupled with their zealous gun control efforts you’ve got a recipe for disaster. They’re making it easier for dangerous people to commit serious crimes while making it harder for people to defend themselves against the violently mentally ill who’ve been cut loose because there’s no room for them in a hospital. It’s no wonder that Democrats’ popularity is cratering in Colorado, but it remains to be seen if voters are fed up enough to actually take away their control over the legislature and governor’s office.
Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its extremist agenda.
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