A preview of Colorado Democrats' future moves on gun control? Polis goes to CSU to speak about changing attitudes re. wildlife (fresh off his wolves veto).

A look around the corner for the Democrats' next moves on gun control?

I'm not sure if you're closely following, but last week Polis signed the so-called "ghost guns"** ban bill.

There have been plenty of articles about that and so I won't go into detail here.  What I do want to mention is something that comes from down at the bottom of the article.  

The quote was too long to put in here so I did it as a screenshot.  Give it a quick read. 

 

There are other interpretations of course, but I can't help but think that we are seeing here a direction that the Democrat supermajority will take in the future re. guns.  

That is, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a permit to purchase law or initiative in the near future.

If you're concerned about your Second Amendment rights, your ability to defend yourself, your ability to have any form of tradition re. firearms, your ability to use them as sport, or just rights in general, you need to get involved if you're not already.

Donate to one of the gun rights groups that is taking the fight to our courts.  I have my own preference re. group which I've mentioned in the past, but if you don't like that group, get involved somewhere. 

Subscribe to newsletters and/or join mailing lists (again I have my preferences, but anything is better than nothing).

Speak up.  Talk to others, testify on bills.  Write and call your legislator and do it now.  There's no need to wait.  Pester the hell out of him or her in a civil manner and make it perfectly clear how you feel and what you expect.

Lastly, encourage others to do the above.

**Following a convention I've seen in some news outlets, I've chosen to use the phrase so-called here and also to put "ghost guns" in quotes for a couple reasons.  One, I've seen them also referred to by the less pejorative term "hobbyist firearms", a term that is just as accurate though used in conservative media outlets.  The point being that there are other terms that have different connotations than this one.  Secondly, I don't know that anyone has put out a strict definition of the term, so I will await that before using the term without a modifier.  .


https://www.coloradopolitics.com/polis-signs-ghost-guns-ban-colorados-fifth-major-gun-control-bill-of-2023/article_faf8b90a-0152-11ee-bbb4-3bff36bbd129.html

Related: gun control activists clearly see Colorado as fertile ground for more gun laws.

I want you to take note that things like this are only tried in areas of the country where gun control advocates see fertile ground; they wouldn't bother in solidly pro-gun rights states.

Just another reason why (as I mentioned in the post above) you need to join  organizations and speak up.  

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/colorado-moms-sit-indemand-gov-polis-ban-all-guns-violation-us-state-constitutions/

Governor Polis, fresh off a veto on a bill that would have delayed wolf reintroduction into this state, is now going to nip on over to a conference at CSU to give a speech.

Quoting the CSU press release below, "Polis is expected to discuss the state’s inclusive agenda for managing wildlife, the appointment of new Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis, and plans to collaborate with CSU’s Animal-Human Policy Center. 

I'm not terribly surprised.  Polis was at best lukewarm to Ag in this state and he seemed to keep his animal-rights tendencies to a minimum in his first term, but I think the results of the last election have emboldened him to be more open and forthright in his choices.  I see this speech and his veto as evidence.

What about the conference itself?  I'll leave it to you to read up more, but there was an interesting nugget or two in there.  

I gather that the purpose of the conference is to discuss wildlife management amidst what they term as changing societal values.  I.e. how are we going to handle wildlife management now that apparently more and more people are seeing nature with new eyes.

To perhaps put it too simply and in too reductive a framework, as suggested by the press release itself, more are shifting to "nature is something that we are to coexist with" as opposed to "nature is something we use for our benefit". 


The changing attitudes are the result of new surveys which I didn't have time to delve too deeply into so I can't say much either for or against the results**.


One other thing that caught my eye were the names and job titles/affilliations of the speakers.  After all, if this is to be an open and a lively dialog among (again, quoting the press release), "a broad spectrum of academics, practitioners, and NGO advocates", I can't help but wonder if anyone who has any experience with the overlap of wild animal management and Production Ag was invited.


I emailed a couple folks at CSU to ask if anyone with Ag affiliation or suchlike was invited to be a speaker or presenter.  As of this writing I haven't heard back but will update if and when I hear.


**I do feel confident saying this, people often express wonderfully inclusive and compassionate ideals until their wallets are hit or until they might have to sacrifice something tangible.  I can't help but wonder how long coexisting would last when people's grocery bills go up or their pets are killed.  I would imagine not long. 

https://warnercnr.source.colostate.edu/polis-csu-pathways-conference-to-focus-on-shifting-values-in-wildlife-management/