Colorado bill would ban standard shotgun

One of Colorado’s most popular standard shotguns would be banned under a bill making its way through the state Capitol.

State Sen. Greg Brophy, a Republican, said a pump or semi-automatic shotgun — the gun most hunters use in Colorado — could be banned under a bill that’s already passed the state House. Gov. John Hickenlooper said he will sign the ban, CBS Denver reports.

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“They’re coming after the standard shotgun,” Mr. Brophy told CBS. “Hundreds of thousands of pheasant hunters are probably going to be carrying around a gun they won’t be able to replace after July 1 this year.”

The bill would limit high-capacity magazines, as well as guns that are readily capable of being altered for high-capacity magazines.

“This is where shotgun shells go inside this tube here,” Mr. Brophy demonstrated. “You can screw this part off the top and screw on an extender to this tube to allow it to hold more than eight rounds. It is readily convertible, which by definition in the bill, makes the whole thing a high-capacity magazine.”

“I don’t know if anybody is going to make guns specifically for the five million people living in Colorado,” he said. “We just might not be able to legally purchase a pump shotgun or a semi-automatic shotgun.”

The lawmaker said that current owners of the shotgun will be able to keep it, but it has to remain in their continuous possession. They can’t bring it to a gunsmith to get fixed or even lend it down to their sons or daughters.

Seven gun bills are up for hearings in the Senate on Monday, CBS reports.

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