Kill the Wild West gun bill

Rep. Greg Brophy's attempt to turn Colorado streets into the gun-slinging Old West will only jeopardize the rights of responsible gun owners.

Lawmakers should promptly shoot down Brophy's House Bill 1281 when it's heard in committee next week.

The proposal allows anyone who can legally possess a handgun to conceal it in public. Brophy says it allows law- abiding citizens to conceal firearms "without going through the burdensome and expensive process of acquiring a permit."

First, they called it "Vermont Carry", because only Vermont did it -- and only as a result of a state supreme court ruling that prohibited any laws to the contrary. Of course, once the rule was set in stone, there were no problems as a result of the law, so no one has ever really bothered to change it. Indeed, I would imagine most anti-gun types don't even know about concealed-carry in Vermont.

But then Alaska passed a law changing their own standard from shall-issue to "no permit required for law-abiding citizens". And all of a sudden, it wasn't just Vermont Carry anymore. Vermont-and-Alaska Carry? Maybe you could manage that; you know, call it "VAL" for short.

But now a bill to the same effect has been proposed in Colorado. And all of a sudden, it looks like we are starting to make progress.