After Columbine, Colorado enacted eight gun law reforms. All are founded on the principle that guns in the wrong hands are very dangerous, and guns in the right hands protect public safety.
One of the new laws forbids adults to transfer guns to minors without parental consent. Another prohibits straw purchases (a legal buyer obtaining a gun on behalf of a prohibited person).
Today, guns are the most stringently regulated consumer product in the United States, the only product for which every single purchase from a store requires permission from the FBI or its state counterpart, such as the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. In 2000, Colorado went even further, enacting special rules for background checks at gun shows. The post-Columbine laws that aim to keep guns out of the wrong hands are complemented by new laws that protect the self-defense rights of the law-abiding: repealing an old law which had authorized the governor to ban gun sales during an emergency (when guns would be needed most); preventing localities from interfering with the transportation of guns in automobiles; limiting localities' power to enact anti-gun laws; and forbidding suits against firearms manufacturers because of gun misuse by criminals.
The most important reform was the 2003 Concealed Carry Act. The act provides for issuance of handgun carry permits to adults who pass a 10-point fingerprint background check and a safety training class. The law affirms a sheriff's discretion to deny a permit to someone who has a clean record but whose documented conduct shows that he would be a danger to himself or others.
The act has thwarted at least one massacre, when in December 2007, a man attacked the New Life megachurch in Colorado Springs. Church volunteer security guard Jeanne Assam was lawfully carrying a licensed handgun, and she quickly shot the attacker. According to pastor Brady Boyd, "she probably saved over 100 lives."
Elsewhere in the United States, three school shootings have ended when teachers or other responsible adults had firearms: in Edinboro, Pa.; Pearl, Miss., and Appalachian Law School in Grundy, Va. Earlier this year, the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously enforced the Concealed Carry Act, ruling that the University of Colorado could not prohibit licensed carry on campus.
Among victims at the Century Aurora 16 theater were members of the U.S. armed forces. Had one of them, or any other law-abiding adult, had a handgun on Friday night, the shot might have stopped or slowed the killer, as it did at the New Life Church.
Some persons are dredging up ideas that were rejected post-Columbine, such as outlawing the best-selling rifle in the U.S., the AR-15. That rifle is popular for hunting, although it is not powerful enough for game larger than deer. It is used for the highest-level target shooting, including the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. Because of the AR-15's relatively low recoil, it is also a good choice for self-defense, especially for persons without a lot of upper body strength.
It's not an automatic. Like every other gun, it fires only one bullet each time you press the trigger.
Nor is the AR-15 more powerful than other guns. As rifles go, it's intermediate. For example, a small rifle cartridge like the .17 Remington might carry 801 foot-pounds of kinetic energy. A big-game cartridge, like the .444 Marlin, might have 3,040. For the AR-15, a typical caliber is .223, and a common cartridge would have 1,395 foot-pounds of energy.
A bill in Congress would ban any magazine holding more than 10 rounds. This would outlaw standard magazines made for about half of all handguns today, and for many rifles. Like many police officers, ordinary law-abiding Americans often choose magazines with more than 10 rounds because they know that sometimes criminals attack in groups, and that one hit may not stop a large, violent attacker.
Colorado's post-Columbine consensus has been to focus on keeping guns out of the wrong hands, rather than punishing the law-abiding by depriving them of choices about how to protect themselves and their families. The Colorado compromises have resolved a divisive social issue, and they deserve our continuing respect.
David B. Kopel is research director for the Independence Institute and an adjunct professor of advanced constitutional law at the University of Denver.