Democrats crossed party lines on Thursday to vote with Republicans in opposition to a bill banning gun owners from discharging weapons on private property, but it wasn’t enough to stop the measure from passing on a 36 to 27 vote.
Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie of Dillon was one of the eight Democrats voting against the measure, along with Reps. Marc Snyder and Regina English of Colorado Springs, Matthew Martinez of Alamosa, Bob Marshall of Highlands Ranch, Shannon Bird of Westminster, Mary Young of Greeley and Sheila Lieder of Lakewood.
All 19 Republicans voted against House Bill 1165. We reported on the bill earlier this week that gives counties the power to make it illegal for gun owners to discharge their weapon on their own property except for hunting and managing livestock and wildlife.
Stay tuned as the bill now moves to the Senate for rapid fire consideration by the Democrats running that joint.
The @coloradodems are coming for your guns AND your property. Let’s make sure they know Colorado doesn’t like control! #copolitics ⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/I8tb79NreD
— Kristi Burton Brown (@KBBColorado) February 15, 2023
Not that we’re cynical (we are), but we question the sincerity of Democrats jumping ship.
After all, if House Speaker McCluskie was seriously, morally, and ethically, opposed to a bill that essentially robs Coloradans of their 2nd Amendment rights, she could have just stopped the bill from ever coming to the floor for a vote in the first place.