GOV: TOUGHER LAWS WOULDN’T HAVE STOPPED HARRIS, KLEBOLD
By JOHN SANKO
Scripps Howard News Service
December 13, 1999

DENVER – The videotapes made by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold show that tougher gun-control laws wouldn’t have stopped the Columbine killers, Gov. Bill Owens said Monday.

“I think the facts show that Mr. Harris and Mr. Klebold broke 17 or 18 or 19 separate laws to do what they did. There wouldn’t have been any hesitation breaking several more,” Owens said.

Although Owens said he will push for mandatory background checks on all weapons sold at gun shows and raising the age from 18 to 21 for handgun purchases, he added, “Do you think these killers would have stopped had they had to go and get a background check at a gun show?”

The weapons used at Columbine High School in suburban Littleton were purchased at an area gun show by friends of the two killers, officials said.

In the videos, Harris and Klebold detailed their plan to kill hundreds of people in the school attack.

The timing of the release of the tape, two weeks before Christmas, and their initial showing to a Time magazine reporter surprised Owens, who said the victims’ families should have been forewarned.

“First of all, I probably wouldn’t have myself given it as an exclusive to a national news magazine,” said Owens, who hadn’t viewed the tapes. “This is a Colorado issue. If I had had those tapes, I would have _ when the time was appropriate _ shared them equally with all news outlets rather than giving a national exclusive. …

“Secondly, I would have to have a conversation with the sheriff’s department in terms of the timing. Two weeks before Christmas? Is this really the time to re-open Columbine? It’s a tough time to be reliving Columbine right now.”

Twelve students and a teacher died April 20 before Harris, 18, and Klebold, 17, turned the weapons on themselves.

Owens predicted that “a significant portion” of the gun-control measures he wants will be approved during the upcoming legislative session.

He also wants tougher laws for people who buy guns for criminals or children, a safe storage law for guns in homes where children have access to them, and the inclusion of juvenile records in background checks.

Owens said he doesn’t expect a bill setting rules for Colorado residents to get permits for concealed guns will reach his desk next year. A bill died in the legislature this year after the Columbine shootings.

“We’re not dealing with gun issues in a vacuum, and Columbine did change the dynamics of what we can do in Colorado in terms of guns,” Owens said.

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(John Sanko is a reporter for the Denver Rocky Mountain News.)