Boulder, Colorado, mass shooting revives gun control push

The accused killer in Boulder was reportedly armed with two assault-style weapons, semi-automatic pistol and an AR-15 rifle.

A ban on assault-style weapons was proposed in the Washington Legislature again this year — but to no avail.

It missed the cutoff for passage — despite strong Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate.

The same thing happened to legislation banning high-capacity magazines — it, too, missed the cutoff for passage.

A ban on open-carry weapons at protests is the only piece of major gun safety legislation still alive.

Renee Hopkins leads the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility.

She said Democratic leaders were upfront about their limits during the pandemic and that police accountability legislation, which the alliance supports as gun violence prevention, will take priority.

“We’re disappointed about high-capacity magazines. There’s no doubt about that. And we’ll be coming back full force next year around high-capacity magazines,” she said.

Interestingly, Boulder, Colorado, did have a ban on assault rifles until it was overturned by a state court two weeks ago, and Boulder still has a ban on high-capacity magazines.

“The answer is not so simple as make one more law,” said Washington state Senate Republican Leader John Braun.

Weapons bans are not the answer, said Republican lawmakers. “What was done there is already, uh, illegal on many different levels. Adding it one more way it’s illegal is not the way you’re going to solve this problem,” Braun said.

Hopkins said gun safety laws have a positive impact. “We know, and data shows us that states that have stronger gun laws, in general, have less gun violence. And so that’s really where we need to be focused,” she said.

Cox Media Group