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As Colorado rolls out SB25-003, the state's version of an "assault weapons" ban coupled with a complex and expensive permit-to-purchase scheme, there are already people insisting I stop calling it a gun ban.
They are wrong. It absolutely is a gun ban.
Nearly every firearm that accepts a detachable magazine is now banned from purchase in Colorado. A handful of historic long guns are exempt. Recoil-operated pistols are exempt. Bolt-action rifles are exempt. Everything else is banned unless the government gives you permission to buy one.
No matter what politicians call it, at the core of every permit-to-purchase scheme is a gun ban. The guns are banned first and foremost. And they stay banned for all but the most privileged.
They are banned for people who can't afford hundreds of dollars to purchase their rights back.
They are banned for people who can't take multiple days off work to satisfy government requirements.
They are banned for people whose local sheriff decides they shouldn't have a permit based on subjective criteria, personal bias, or arbitrary judgment.
They are banned for people with common names who get falsely flagged in a nationwide, name-based background check that must include both criminal and judicial records.
They are banned for elderly people and people with disabilities who can't easily travel.
They are banned for people who don't do well on written tests.
They are banned for people with learning disabilities.
They are banned for people who are deaf or hard of hearing if the required training or testing isn't reasonably accessible.
They are banned for people who are blind or have significant vision impairments if they can't complete the required process.
They are banned for people who don't speak English fluently if the required instruction or testing isn't available in their language.
They are banned for people who can't get into a required class because there aren't enough instructors or enough seats available.
They are banned for people who live hours from an approved trainer or testing site.
They are banned for single parents who can't find or afford a babysitter so they can sit through a required two-day class.
They are banned for people without reliable transportation.
They are banned for people whose paperwork gets lost, delayed, or buried in government bureaucracy.
They are banned for people who refuse to trade a constitutional right for a government permit.
Every new requirement creates another group of people who are denied the ability to exercise a constitutional right, and in most cases, those people are the most underprivileged in society.
Call it a permit. Call it licensing. Call it whatever you want.
It's still a gun ban.
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