Boulder City Council Gives Initial Approval to Assault Weapon-Ban

After a five-hour public hearing and more than 100 comments from those attending,  the Boulder City Council passed on first reading Thursday a new law that would ban the sale and possession of assault weapons and bump stocks within the city limits. KGNU’s Roz Brown says every corner of the municipal building and even the library was used to accommodate the large crowd.  Language in the new law may be fine-tuned during second and third readings of the legislation.

147 people signed up to share their views with city council, many had been recruited by the NRA to speak against the ban, including several from surrounding communities where the law won’t apply. Several people spoke in support of the ban, sharing personal stories of being impacted by gun violence, including loved ones of people killed in the Aurora theater and a survivor of the Virginia Tech shooting.

Council member Jill Grano proposed the ban after the recent school shooting in Parkland Florida. The law as it is written defines assault weapons as:

• All semiautomatic rifles that have the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and that have any of the following characteristics: a pistol grip or thumbhole stock; a folding or telescoping stock; or any protruding grip or other device to allow the weapon to be stabilized with the non-trigger hand.

• All semi-automatic center-fire pistols that have any of the following characteristics: the capacity to accept a magazine other than in the pistol grip or any device to allow the weapon to be stabilized with the non-trigger hand.

• Any firearm that has been modified to be operable as an assault weapon as defined by the city, plus any part or combination or parts designed to convert a firearm into an assault weapon.