Colorado lawmakers will be on the front lines of the national gun debate both nationally and locally.
Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D) and Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D) both have close connections to the Aurora community and to the 1999 Columbine High School shootings.
Perlmutter was appointed as a Vice-Chair of the 12 member House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force last week and is expected to renew his call for a ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004.
鈥淧erlmutter was actually, one of the first, in fact maybe the first person to call for a ban on assault weapons right after the shootings in Aurora,鈥� says Publisher Jody Hope Strogoff.
鈥淗e also brings the ability to work well with others and I think that鈥檚 important on such an emotional issue and I think he鈥檒l probably try use that kind of common sense approach when he talks with the other representatives on the committee.鈥�
Diana DeGette jumped into the gun debate during the first day of the new Congress last week proposing legislation that would ban high-capacity magazines. Strogoff says it鈥檚 not the first time that she鈥檚 proposed such legislation.
鈥淭here are still a lot of people in Congress who have been supported by the National Rifle Association who believe in the 2nd Amendment above anything and I think you are talking about something too that鈥檚 an emotionally laden issue that 鈥� it鈥檚 going to get be hard to get legislation through but I think her bills have a better chance now than in the past.鈥�
Several gun related bills are also expected on the state level when the annual legislative session convenes on Wednesday. Among them is a measure from Aurora representative Rhonda Fields (D) that would require background checks for gun purchases made through private transactions.
