Colorado governor signs landmark gun bills

DENVER (AP) — Colorado's governor signed bills Wednesday that place new restrictions on firearms, signaling a change for Democrats who have traditionally shied away from gun control in a state with a pioneer tradition of gun ownership and self-reliance.

The legislation thrust Colorado into the national spotlight as a potential test of how far the country might be willing to go with new gun restrictions after the horror of mass killings at an Aurora movie theater and a Connecticut elementary school.

Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper signed bills that require background checks for private and online gun sales and ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds.

The debate in the Democratic-controlled Legislature was intense, and Republicans warned that voters would make Democrats pay. The bills failed to garner a single Republican vote.

The bills' approval came exactly eight months after dozens of people were shot in Aurora, and a day after the executive director of the state Corrections Department, Tom Clements, was shot and killed at his home. Hickenlooper signed the legislation right after speaking with reporters about Clements' slaying.

Hickenlooper said large-capacity magazines "have the potential to turn killers into killing machines." He also said he realized some gun owners may be inconvenienced but that "the potential for damage seems to outweigh, significantly, the inconvenience that people would have," he said.

The bills signal a historic change for Democrats in a state where owning a gun is as common as owning a car in some rural areas.

"He just slapped rural Colorado right in the face," said Republican Sen. Brophy, who represents an eastern plains district. "They are overwhelmingly upset about this."

Both bills take effect July 1. People who currently own larger-capacity magazines will be able to keep them.

At the signing ceremony, Hickenlooper was surrounded by lawmakers who sponsored the bills, and relatives of mass shootings. Hickenlooper also signed requiring buyers to pay fees for background checks.

Each time he signed a bill, applause erupted from lawmakers and their guests, who included Jane Dougherty, whose sister was killed in the attack at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.; Sandy Phillips, whose daughter was killed in Aurora; and Tom Mauser, whose son was killed in the 1999 Columbine shooting in Colorado.

Phillips, who lost daughter Jessica Ghawi, reminded Hickenlooper that it was the eight-month anniversary of the theater rampage.

"You've given us a real gift today," she told the governor.

Later, Phillips added: "Thank you so much. You're leading the entire country."

Dougherty thanked Hickenlooper with tears in her eyes. Mauser also expressed gratitude.

"I knew it would be a long haul," he said. "But I had faith in the people of Colorado."

Democratic Rep. Rhonda Fields, who represents the district that includes the Aurora theater, said the governor had signed "common-sense legislation."

"Gun violence is a problem nationwide, and sadly in the state of Colorado, we are all too familiar with some of these tragedies," Fields.

Lawmakers debated firearms proposals after the Columbine High School shooting, and began requiring background checks for buyers at gun shows. But nothing they did then was as sweeping as the proposals they took up this year.

This year, Colorado lawmakers succeeded while members of their party stumbled in other states.

Washington state's Democrat-controlled House failed this month to pass a universal background check bill. A bill requiring background checks at gun shows in New Mexico also stalled in that Democrat-led Legislature.

Republicans have warned that voters will punish Hickenlooper and other Democrats who voted in favor of the measures.

"The real solution here is at the ballot box in 2014," Brophy said.

Republicans have said limiting magazine sizes will drive jobs from the state, and ultimately won't prevent criminals from getting larger magazines in other states.

One Colorado-based manufacturer of ammunition magazines disclosed plans to relocate because of the new restrictions.

Police chiefs in urban areas supported the bills, but some rural county sheriffs opposed the new background checks, arguing the move is unenforceable and endangers Second Amendment rights.

Hickenlooper said law enforcement should try to find common ground.

"This shouldn't be rural versus urban. We are one state," he said.

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Associated Press writer Kristen Wyatt contributed to this report.

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Oklahoma House Approves Bills on Armed Teachers, Nullification of 'Obamacare'

The current Oklahoma legislative session convened on Feb. 4. Both branches of the legislature have been busily considering proposed changes to Oklahoma law, from Gov. Mary Fallin's request to a reduction in the state income tax rate to bills that were approved today by the House of Representatives.

Measure Allowing Oklahoma Public Schools to Allow Armed Teachers in Classrooms

House Bill 1062 , the Special Reserve School Resource Officer Act, was introduced by Rep. Mark McCullough , R-District 30, and introduced on the first day of the 2013 legislative session. The proposed legislation would allow public schools in the state to determine for themselves if they want armed teachers in the classrooms.

If the bill is passed through the state senate as it stands, schools would have to option to pay for teachers to receive a minimum of 120 hours of training to be able to carry a gun in school. The training will be provided by the state's Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training through a specialized program to be designed for the volunteer teachers.

A vote on the measure in the House today passed 6-23 over objections by some representatives about the safety and liability of having armed teachers in schools, even with training. Rep. Cory Williams , D-District 34, told the AP , "This sounds like bargain basement security for kids."

McCullough voiced his intentions to push for a $500,000 appropriation to school districts to pay for the training of up to 250 volunteers.

The measure will now go to the state senate for consideration.

Measure Preventing Enforcement of Affordable Care Act in Oklahoma

House Bill 1021 , introduced as a public health and safety concern by Rep. Mike Ritze , R-District 80, and titled "Preventing Enforcement of Certain Federal Health Care Acts," passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives today by a vote of 72-20. Today, the measure became authored by Sen. Nathan Dahm , R-District 33, for the senate's consideration.

TheRepublic.com reported that Ritze continues to believe the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, despite the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to the contrary and that most Oklahomans oppose what is often referred to as "Obamacare."

Removed from H.B. 1021 was a provision that would have made it a felony, punishable with up to five years in prison, for anyone in the state to follow the laws of the Affordable Care Act.

Measure to Decrease State Income Tax Rate

On Tuesday, the House passed House Bill 2032 , with a vote of 65-30. H.B. 2032, introduced by House Speaker T.W. Shannon , R-District 62, would cut the state's top income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 5 percent, a plan backed by Fallin, a Republican.

The Associated Press reported that an analysis of what the cut in the income tax rate would mean in dollars and cents to state coffers showed that a loss of $50 million in the fiscal year 2014 which begins July 1, 2013 and a loss of $130 million in fiscal year 2015. Opponents of the tax decrease voiced concerns about cuts and losses in state services with the loss of income to Oklahoma from the income tax.

Smack dab in the middle of the baby boomer generation, L.L. Woodard is a proud resident of "The Red Man" state. With what he hopes is an everyman's view of life's concerns both in his state and throughout the nation, Woodard presents facts and opinions based on common-sense solutions.

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In separating gun-control bills, Democrats reveal strategy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats in the Senate have spread his gun-control proposals across four bills in an effort to get at least some of the less controversial measures - such as expanded background checks for gun buyers - passed into law.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote as early as Thursday on the bills, which together amount to an acknowledgement by Democrats that a ban on military-style "assault" weapons is unlikely to clear Congress.

The proposed ban on assault weapons makes up one of the four gun-control bills, all of which are likely to be approved by the Democrat-led Judiciary Committee and be considered by the full Senate, congressional aides said Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, will decide how to package the measures for a vote on the Senate floor.

By breaking Obama's gun-control agenda into pieces, supporters hope to avoid having a less popular proposal such as the assault weapons ban contribute to the rejection of other proposals, aides said.

The proposed ban, introduced by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, has drawn opposition from Republicans and some Democrats. It will be the focus of a Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday.

"We are taking a pragmatic approach that is designed to maximize our options," a senior Democratic aide said.

The four bills now before the Judiciary Committee include one introduced by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the panel's chairman, that would crack down on illegal gun trafficking.

Another bill, by California Senator Barbara Boxer, is designed to increase school safety.

A bill, still being finalized, would call for "universal" background checks for all prospective gun buyers. Currently, only about 40 percent of buyers are screened for previous crimes or mental illness.

Feinstein's proposal, targets assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips like those used in the December 14 massacre at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 20 children and six adults dead - and inspired the current action on gun control.

'NO WAY' ON ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN

Wednesday's hearing is likely be the latest in a series of dramatic Capitol Hill hearings to reflect the passion surrounding the debate over gun control.

Those scheduled to testify include the father of one of the students killed in Newtown, and a doctor who was in a local emergency room when victims of the shootings were brought in.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Democrats "are trying to create political theater" with the hearing, and that there is no way an assault weapons ban will become law.

"It faces bipartisan opposition," he said.

Even so, all four of the gun-control bills are widely expected to sent to the full Senate on party-line votes of 10-8, Senate aides said.

But to clear procedural roadblocks from Republicans on the Senate floor, the measures will need 60 votes in the 100-member Senate, where Democrats and independents who support them account for 55 seats and Republicans hold 45.

There have been calls from those in both parties for expanded background checks in an effort to keep firearms out of the hands of convicted criminals and the mentally ill.

But a bipartisan deal has not yet been struck despite weeks of talks among four senators - Democrats Charles Schumer of New York and Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republicans Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Mark Kirk of Illinois.

"It is the one thing we think can really pass, and we don't yet have an agreement on it," a Senate aide said.

On Tuesday, Coburn said, "We're still talking."

(Editing by David Lindsey and Cynthia Osterman)

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