While Colorado Dems Push Semi-Auto Ban, Shooters Still Getting Light Treatment in Courts

Democrats in the Colorado legislature look to have the votes to pass the most extensive semi-auto ban in the country this session; prohibiting the sale, manufacture, and future possession of virtually all gas-operated semi-automatic firearms capable of accepting detachable magazines. But while the Democrat majority is going after some of the most commonly owned and popular guns in the country, they’re silent about the soft-on-crime policies that are treating violent criminals with kid gloves. 

The most recent example comes from Denver, where an 18-year-old recently learned her fate after shooting five people outside a Denver nightclub in 2023. Keanna Rosenburgh was offered, and accepted, a deal where she pled guilty to one count of attempted murder. In exchange, she got what amounts to a slap on the wrist; seven years in the youth offender system.

Rosenburgh was initially charged with several felony counts of attempted murder and assault and faced up to 21 years in prison. However, as part of the plea deal, the 18-year-old will serve only seven years in the juvenile system.

Rosenburgh also received a suspended sentence of 21 years in the Department of Corrections. She will only serve that time if she violates the conditions of her sentencing.

Rosenburgh isn’t even likely to do the full seven years of her sentence. With good time credit she’ll likely be free shortly after her 21st birthday. 

All of which is perfectly acceptable to the Democratic majority in Denver, who are intent on banning inanimate objects instead of ensuring stiff consequences for violent offenders. 

If the bill passes, the affected firearms could be manufactured, sold or purchased in Colorado only if they have a permanently fixed magazine — either by welding, epoxy or soldering — that could not accept more than 15 rounds of ammunition. 

… Large gun manufacturers do not make semiautomatic weapons with fixed magazines, said Nephi Cole, director of government relations state affairs for the National Sports Shooting Foundation, an industry trade group representing gun sellers and manufacturers. 

Conversion kits that make such weapons legal in other states wouldn’t make them compliant under Senate Bill 3. That’s because of a clause in the measure that says a detachable magazine that can be removed “without rendering the firearm incapable of accepting any magazine” wouldn’t comply with the legislation. 

… Cole, who called Senate Bill 3 “the most expansive proposed gun ban that’s ever been proposed in the United States of America,” said one of the reasons manufacturers don’t make guns with fixed magazines is that they are considered unsafe. If someone cannot remove a magazine from a weapon, it’s difficult to check if it’s still loaded. 

Thoroughly cleaning a weapon with a magazine, meanwhile, would be much more difficult under Senate Bill 3, firearm experts say. “What if you’re a manufacturer and I’m now going to tell you to build a gun that you consider to be unsafe?” he said. “Are you going to build that gun?”

SB 3 is an outrageous infringement on our Second Amendment rights on its own, but the fact that it’s one of the top legislative priorities for Democrats when Colorado has one of the highest rates of violent crime in the country just adds insult to injury. Criminals aren’t going to abide by this gun ban in the first place. It will be law-abiding gun owners who feel its effect, while the perpetrators of home invasions, drive-by shootings, and armed robberies will continue to reap the benefits of the Democratic majority’s unwillingness to crack down on actual crime.