By Fred Brown
Denver Post Capitol Bureau Chief

Jan. 27 – Gov. Bill Owens believes most of his gun-control bills will pass this year, and he’d really like to see more flexibility in the state personnel system, he told the state’s largest business lobbying group on Wednesday.

The Republican governor, speaking at the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry’s “Business Day at the Capitol,” said he’s “actually optimistic” about the fate of gun-control measures, even though some of them are dying in committee this week.

There are, he pointed out, 25 to 30 different proposals. And many address, in one form or another, the “modest and moderate” measures he has proposed with the support of Attorney General Ken Salazar, a Democrat.

The key elements of the package are higher age limits for handgun purchases, background checks at gun shows, safe storage of weapons, including juvenile records in background checks, outlawing third-party purchases of weapons for people who can’t legally buy them for themselves, and reinstituting state background checks by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

“These bills are very confusing, and they’re all moving at the same time,” he said. But, he added, “I will predict most of them will pass this session.”

Owens thanked the business group for supporting his education and growth initiatives. But he seemed a bit stymied by a question from Gully Stanford, a State Board of Education member who asked him about extending his “full-funding” philosophy to special education. Stanford said the state currently contributes only about 17 percent of the costs of that “categorical” program.

“I just don’t have a number for you,” Owens said, agreeing, “It’s a real challenge.”

To another questioner, who complained about “bureaucratic lethargy” in state agencies such as the Department of Public Health and Environment, Owens responded that the state desperately needs to reform its personnel system.

“It’s arguably the most restrictive personnel system in the United States,” he said.

A new governor can replace only 15 department heads and 15 to 20 staffers in the governor’s office, he said. A more reasonable policy – requiring a constitutional change – would allow replacing the top 10 to 15 people in each of the departments, he said.

Copyright 1999-2000 The Denver Post. All rights reserved.