Colorado Senate Kills Handgun Bill

DENVER (AP) – Saying he owed it to fellow Marines, a Democratic lawmaker
and Vietnam veteran joined Republicans on Thursday to kill a bill that
would have raised the age for handgun purchases in Colorado from 18 to
21.

Colorado’s guns laws came under scrutiny after the 1999 Columbine
High School massacre, in which two teen-agers killed 13 people and then
committed suicide.

Sen. Jim Dyer, a Democrat from Durango, said he fought
alongside too many people under 21 to take away their right to buy a
gun.

“I owe my life to people I trusted,?? Dyer said. Passage
would have required the support of all 18 Senate Democrats, who hold a
one-vote edge over the Republicans. Individual votes were not recorded,
but when Dyer stood to vote no, supporters knew the bill was dead.

The Republican-controlled House had not yet taken up the bill.
The bill would have made it a crime to sell or transfer ownership of
a handgun to someone under 21 without a parent’s permission. Federal law
prohibits licensed dealers from selling handguns to people younger than
21.

Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, used four weapons in
the Columbine attack, three legally purchased by an 18-year-old friend
at a gun show. They illegally bought the fourth weapon, a semiautomatic
handgun, when they were under 18.

Last November, Colorado voters approved a measure closing the
so-called gun show loophole by requiring background checks of those who
try to buy from an unlicensed vendor. Only licensed sellers previously
had to do the checks.