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AURORA-The conversation on gun control is getting louder ever since the theater shootings this summer. Many victims of the shooting and their families say now is the time to take a stance. They're lobbying the legislature to pass stricter laws during the coming legislative session.
Representative Beth McCann and Representative Rhonda Fields are co-sponsoring a bill that would ban the sale and possession of assault weapons and high capacity magazines. McCann says the bill is still in the early stages, but it's coming along.
"I'm looking at legislation to address banning the sale and possession of really assault weapons. I'm really targeting these weapons that seem to be designed to shoot as many people as you can in a short period of time," McCann said.
McCann says she and Representative Fields respect the second amendment and they're being careful in writing the bill because they don't want to impact the rights of hunters and people trying to protect themselves. However, the legislators say there are certain weapons that don't need to be accessible to everyday people.
"It seems that as these weapons are readily available they do get into the hands of people who really shouldn't have them," McCann said.
The theater shooting in Aurora this summer sparked a national conversation about gun control. McCann says that's just one of the reasons she's fighting for more gun control laws in the state.
Many theater shooting victims and their families say they're going to lobby the legislature and work with McCann and Fields to make sure that stricter gun laws are passed.
Some of those families include the Hoovers. Theresa Hoover lost her son, AJ Boik. He was shot in killed when the gunman came into Theater 9.
"My son didn't need to die," Hoover said. "He was going to the movies and had that person not gotten his hands on a gun, those guns, we wouldn't be here now, We need to take action and Colorado and the country need to take a look at gun ownership in a responsible way."
Legislators in favor of stricter gun laws say there are certain guns that people don't need to have.
Gun owners, like Dudley Brown, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Gun Owner's says the question isn't if people need certain weapons. He says it's about freedom.
" Banning guns won't do anything to stop crime. I have yet to see any solutions that would have even the slightest effect on crime," Brown said.
Many gun owners say it's not the guns that are killing people, it's the deranged people who get them. Attaching the rights of those owners who didn't break the law isn't the way to go.
"We should allow more people to carry the tools of self defense so when the next mad man or disgruntled employee enters an area to seek some kind of revenge the common citizen can stop the crime," Brown said.
An Edison Research poll conducted for the AP shows that the majority of Coloradans are fine with the way gun laws are now. Representative McCann says the results of the poll aren't consistent with the feedback she's been getting so she'll continue to push for stricter laws. Governor Hickenlooper says he welcomes the conversation on gun control, but says it goes hand in hand with the conversation on mental health.
Political experts say because the house and senate are controlled by the Democrats, it's likely that the bill will at least make it out of committee.
