Free Republic

In a bitter fight, Colorado Democrats recently muscled through the Statehouse a massive elections reform bill that allows voters to register up until Election Day and still cast their ballots. It’s the latest—and most substantial—development in a nationwide Democratic Party effort to strike back at two years of Republican success in passing measures to require identification at polling places and purge rolls of suspect voters. Democratic-controlled states like California, Connecticut and Maryland also all have sought to make it easier to cast a ballot as late as possible. They recently passed versions of same-day voter registration measures, which traditionally help...

Daniele Perazzi, president of the Italian Perazzi Shotguns firm, was taken into custody yesterday by Adams County Deputies [see update, below] along with several prototype shotguns. The executive was picked up in the parking lot of the Denver Merchandise Mart, hosting the high-end Colorado Gun Collectors show this weekend, after a taxi driver, likely reacting to a suspicious activity reporting outreach program conducted by law enforcement, told authorities he thought he could be transporting an armed “foreign speaking” terror suspect. “He loaded prototype shotguns into the cab on the way to the Merchandise Mart,” gun rights activist and newly-elected National...

The Independence Institute held a press conference on May 17, 2013 announcing the lawsuit against the new anti-gun bills passed by the Colorado legislature and signed by Governor John Hickenlooper. The lead attorney is Dave Kopel.

DENVER — An executive with a prominent gun manufacturer is on his way back to his native Italy after a taxi driver mistook him for a terrorist on Saturday. Daniele Perazzi had just arrived at a gun show at the Denver Merchandise Mart when his cabbie called police to tell them he’d dropped off a terrorist. Perazzi, who was carrying seven shotguns at the time, was taken in for questioning by the Adams County Sheriffs Department. He was released a short time later. Perazzi’s U.S. attorney told Fox 31 Denver that her client was scared during the incident because he’s...

On Friday, May 17, fifty-four Colorado Sheriffs filed a civil rights lawsuit in Federal District Court in Denver, against two anti-gun bills passed by the Colorado legislature in March. Joining the Sheriffs as Plaintiffs are the Colorado Farm Bureau, disabled persons, Outdoor Buddies (an organization that helps disabled persons participate in outdoor sports), the Colorado Outfitters Association (the trade association for hunting guides), the National Shooting Sports Foundation (the trade association for the firearms industry), magazine manufacturer Magpul, federally-licensed firearms dealers, the state’s largest shooting range, the Colorado State Shooting Association (governing body for the shooting sports in Colorado), and...

The drive to recall a top Colorado Democratic legislator over his gun-control support received a boost Thursday from a newly released poll showing a plurality of his constituents support removing him from office. A poll by Public Opinion Strategies showed that 34 percent of district voters surveyed support the recall of state Senate President John Morse, versus 29 percent who oppose it. Another 33 percent said they were undecided on the recall effort, which is still in the signature-gathering phase. When told that Mr. Morse sponsored an unsuccessful bill to make manufacturers and owners liable for crimes committed with their...

A program in Palm Beach County intended to encourage residents to report suspicious behavior is attracting resistance from around the state. Under the proposed "Violence Prevention Program," anyone who sees a potentially dangerous situation — a schizophrenic person with weapons, a war veteran making threats to passersby — could call a 24-hour hotline. Legitimate-sounding calls would trigger a visit by specially trained deputies in plain clothes or by mental health professionals. The Palm Beach County Sheriff says violence prevention unit could thwart would-be killers like the recent mass shooters in Connecticut and Colorado. The program will cost $3.2 million in...

DENVER (Reuters) - A group of Colorado county sheriffs, angry about two new state gun control laws passed in the wake of last year's mass shootings in Connecticut and Colorado, filed a federal lawsuit on Friday seeking to block the laws from going into effect. The two laws, passed by the state's Democratic-controlled legislature with scant Republican support, ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds and require background checks for all private gun sales and transfers. All but 10 of the state's 64 county sheriffs signed on to the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver. In...

DENVER - County sheriffs from across Colorado are trying to bring down two gun control measures signed into law in March with a constitutional challenge filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Denver. "Today represents a line in the sand," El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said. "The filing of this lawsuit is our only option. We did not want this. We did not ask for this, but we will not stand by silently while good citizens are deprived of their rights and criminalized." Maketa is one of 54 sheriffs challenging the constitutionality of the state's ban on high-capacity magazines...

DENVER (AP) — A group of Colorado sheriffs unhappy with recent gun control laws are planning to file a lawsuit to block them.

Allies of Colorado Senate President John Morse (D-Colorado Springs), who faces a potential recall election because of his unpopular support of strict gun control measures, recently launched a misleading website along with a series of robocalls and radio ads labeling recall petitioners as frauds and criminals. In what seems a desperate attempt to stop the possibility of Sen. Morse’s ouster in a special election, the political action committee (PAC) “A Whole Lot Of People For John Morse” has created a website called “Colorado Recall Watch.” The site is vaguely eerie, with a black and red color scheme and typesetting apparently...

DENVER - Four Colorado lawmakers are facing a possible recall after supporting new gun control legislation in Colorado. Three senators and one representative are targets by different groups across the state, but those organizing the recalls have an uphill battle. Under Colorado law, each recall petition needs to have 25 percent of all the votes cast in the previous election for the targeted lawmaker. Senate President John Morse, who is term limited, is being challenged by two different groups, "I am surprised," he said by phone Sunday. "It's not really an affective, appropriate way to deal with political issues." His...

EXCLUSIVE...CompleteColorado.com EMAILS SHOW WHITE HOUSE DROVE FAILED GREEN-LOAN IN COLORADO

Internal Revenue Service to investigate conservative groups? Was the IRS to read between the lines of his request? A keen observation by View from a Height blogger Joshua Sharf may have tied Colorado’s Democratic U.S. Senator Bennet, who now chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, to the most recent Internal Revenue Service scandal. Late last week, the IRS came under scrutiny for targeting conservative groups, such as the Richmond Tea Party, for inappropriate intrusion into their business dealings. According to the DailyMail, the Richmond Tea Party received a letter in January 2012 asking that they complete a 55-question document that...

A group of Spanish-speaking custodial workers in Colorado have filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that the Auraria Higher Education Center in Denver discriminated against them by failing to provide Spanish translations. The complaint, filed last week by a dozen custodial workers, contends that the employees suffered unfair working conditions because the AHEC failed to provide Spanish translations of policies and procedures. “Other higher education facilities including CU and UNC provide information to their custodial employees in a number of different languages,” Tim Markham, attorney for Colorado WINS, the union representing the workers, said in a...

The long journey toward a verdict in the deadly Colorado theater shootings enters a new and critical phase Monday when suspect James Holmes asks a judge to change his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity. The plea is widely seen as Holmes' best hope, and perhaps his only hope, of avoiding the death penalty. But his lawyers have held off until now, fearing a wrinkle in the law could cripple their ability to raise his mental health as a mitigating factor during the sentencing phase. Two judges have refused to rule on the constitutionality of the law, saying...

A group of Hispanic custodians at the Auraria Campus in downtown Denver are claiming they are victims of discrimination. They’ve filed a complaint against the campus operator that could be reviewed by a federal judge. What started out as a miscommunication over a schedule change for employees working the graveyard shift has become a full investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Too many things have happened to me there that I don’t even know how to explain it,” said Auraria custodian Bertha Ribota. Ribota said she was injured at work because she couldn’t read a warning sign that was...

Colorado is set to become the first U.S. state to regulate and tax sales of recreational marijuana, after lawmakers approved several bills that set business standards and rules. Legislators expect enforcement of the rules to be paid for by two taxes on marijuana — a 15 percent excise tax, and a 10 percent sales tax. Other measures included in the package set limits on how much marijuana visitors to Colorado can buy (a quarter of an ounce), as well as a limit on how many cannabis plants a private citizen can grow (six). Gov. John Hickenlooper has indicated he will...

Most of Colorado’s congressional delegation and Gov. John Hickenlooper have signed a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration asking the agency to turn the state into a testing ground for unmanned drones — even while acknowledging that the public remains uneasy about how they might be used by both the government and private individuals. Democratic Sen. Mark Udall is leading the charge ... In a speech at the National Press Club Wednesday, Udall was careful not to use the word “drone” too heavily, opting instead for the industry-preferred “unmanned aerial system,” or UAS.

DENVER -- The governor is expected to sign a measure into law that would redefine how Colorado elections are run, allowing same-day voter registration and having ballots mailed to all registered voters. Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper is expected to sign the bill this afternoon in his office, according to Rep. Dan Pabon, a Denver Democrat who sponsored the bill. "This is a historic measure that will enfranchise more voters in Colorado than we've ever seen in our state's history," he said. The bill passed with unanimous support from Democrats, but not a single Republican voted for it, citing concerns about...

Update: The “A Whole Lot of People for John Morse” committee gets slightly bigger than six people. Update at the bottom. As Colorado lawmakers entered the last frenzied 72 hours of the legislative session — 90 bills were still on the docket when the legislature was called to order Monday morning — four state politicians are facing efforts to recall them from office. Recall drives are in full swing against Senate Democrats John Morse, Evie Hudak and Angela Giron as well as Democratic Rep. Mike McLachlan.

I have seen the light. After all these years, I now agree that it’s fruitless to give the benefit of the doubt to people who are so obviously corrupt, so clearly malevolent, so bent on hurting innocent people for their own sick gain.

We’re beginning to learn some details about why there has been renewed interest in a Saudi national serving an 8 years-to-life prison sentence in Colorado for enslaving and sexually assaulting an Indonesian minor. Some of those details appear to involve Homaidan al-Turki’s large bank account, coupled with large purchases at the prison canteen that couldn’t have possibly been solely for himself. Al-Turki was briefly a person of interest after the murder of Colorado’s prison chief Tom Clements on March 19th. One week earlier, al-Turki’s request to be transferred to Saudi Arabia had been denied by Clements. That interest seemed to...

Wyoming will be the new home for HiViz, as the company is leaving its former home of Colorado in protest of new gun control legislation passed in the state. “I make this announcement with mixed emotions,” said HiViz president Phillip Howe. ”Colorado is a beautiful state with great people, but we cannot in clear conscience support with our taxes a state that has proven through recent legislation a willingness to infringe upon the constitutional rights of our customer base.” Starting with corporate headquarters, the operations will be moved over an extended period of time ensuring no interruption of services to...

“I now agree that it’s fruitless to give the benefit of the doubt to people who are so obviously corrupt, so clearly malevolent, so bent on hurting innocent people for their own sick gain,” Aurora Sentinel editor Dave Perry wrote in an April 25 editorial. “No more due process in the clear-cut case of insidious terrorism. “When the facts are so clearly before all Americans, for the whole world to see, why bother with this country’s odious and cumbersome system of justice?” he asked. “Send the guilty monsters directly to Guantanamo Bay for all eternity and let them rot in...

Under clear skies and a snowy landscape, the temperature plunged to 14 degrees at Vance Brand Airport at 6:30 a.m. Thursday morning, smashing the previous record low for the date of 24, set in 1989. The morning low is the lowest temperature ever recorded in Longmont during the month of May, according to Times-Call weather consultant Dave Larison. Previously, the lowest reading for the month was 18 degrees, set on May 1, 1989, and May 5, 1917. ... (Read rest of article via link.)

HiViz Shooting Systems, a gun-parts manufacturer in Fort Collins, Colo., will move its operations up the road to Laramie, Wyo., making good on its threat to pull up its Colorado roots after Gov. John Hickenlooper signed into law several controversial gun control measures earlier this year. Of the businesses planning to leave the state for the same reason, HiViz is the first to announce its new home. “The decision to relocate the company was difficult, and choosing the proper location was essential to our continued growth within the industry,” said president and CEO Phillip Howe in a press release. “We...

DENVER — A Colorado firearms company has found a new home across the border in Wyoming, protesting the recent passage of restrictive new guns laws. HiViz Shooting Systems announced Thursday that it will move its core operations from Fort Collins, Colo., to Laramie, Wyo. That’s about an hour’s drive, but light years away in terms of state gun policy. HiViz becomes the first gun-related manufacturing company to pick up stakes since Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed three sweeping gun-control laws in March. Other firearms manufacturers, including Magpul Industries, have indicated that they will relocate in response to the legislation. Colorado...

Something is happening in Colorado, and you better pay attention. Colorado Democrats, with the active help of some Republican county election clerks interested in shirking work, have devised a revolutionary plan to remake future Colorado elections. The plan is simple: ballots are automatically mailed out to every single person on the voter rolls. Ballots are even mailed to people listed as “inactive” voters at their last known address. Ballots are then voted and returned by mail. No more polling places. No more voters actually demonstrating an interest in participating in an election. The government will decide that for them, and...

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — An Arapahoe County judge is expected to set an execution date for one of Colorado’s death row inmates at a hearing Wednesday morning. But that may not be the final chapter for Nathan Dunlap, especially with political agendas on the death penalty being pushed in high places. Dunlap has been on death row for 20 years, and recently lost his final appeal. In 1996, he was convicted of killing four people inside an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. Dunlap was 19 years old when he walked into the Aurora restaurant where he had been fired and...

With the frequency of flailing attacks left-wing Colorado Pols has been throwing out lately against the impending recall campaigns of Democratic Senators Hudak and Morse and Representative McLachlan, you might begin to wonder if they doth protest too much. (Note to Michele Bachmann — it’s not “protestest too much“) It makes you wonder if some on the left have polled the issue and are beginning to worry that a low-turnout recall election is more than just a minor annoyance. Should any of the petition drives succeed, a recall election would likely be very low turnout, which would favor the highly...

Two billboards in which images of Native Americans are used to make a gun rights argument are causing a stir with some Colorado residents who say the image is offensive and insensitive. The billboards in this northern Colorado city show three men dressed in traditional Native American attire and the words "Turn in your arms. The government will take care of you." Matt Wells, an account executive with Lamar Advertising in Denver, said Monday that a group of local residents purchased the space. "They have asked to remain anonymous," he said. He also refused to disclose the cost but said...

the high prevalence of Democratic legislators, including Jared Polis, who “bought friends” on Twitter (approximately 82%). The original story cited The Hill. Yesterday, the New York Times also has called out Polis for his fake friends. ... While Polis may be cited as the member of Congress with the highest percentage of fakes, he’s certainly not the only liberal guilty of this type of astroturfing. The Hill also noted that it was estimated that 70% of President Obama’s followers also were bought. While a few (thousand or million) fake followers on Twitter may not seem like a big deal, does...

We ended up with a good turnout for today's recall effort. There were canvassing teams out and we staked out a busy intersection by the Citadel Mall. Lots of good feedback from motorists responding to our signs and many others stopping to get their names on the petition to recall Sen. Morse. We even had some thumbs up from Colorado Springs Police that were driving by as well as Sheriff's Deputies. It was a good day and it ended with Fox News-21 stopping by. The story should be on at 9:00 PM MST. They will also be posting a video...

On Friday, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper (D) signed a bill that repeals the 2006 law, SB06-90 . The bill required police to alert federal authorities about suspected illegals living in the US. The bi-partisan supporters of the repeal said the law made immigrants afraid of law enforcement. Fox News Latino reported: Those who wanted the law repealed argued it made immigrants afraid of police. They also say the law is now duplicative because a federal program checks fingerprints during arrests to check immigration status. Proponents of such laws say that the federal government has failed to control illegal immigration, forcing...

Colorado Senate Bill 252 and the multibillion-dollar economic burden it would impose on .. Colorado. ... SB 252 is being fast tracked to limit public debate. The bill squeaked through the Senate by just one vote and now will be heard in the House. Coloradans: It's time to contact your representative to say how critical it is to stop this costly bill. ... It will just take a minute or two to make your voice heard and your representative needs to hear from you today.

DENVER (AP/CBS4) — Marijuana legalization could be going back to the ballot in Colorado — a prospect that infuriated pot legalization activists Friday. The proposal for a marijuana ballot measure came as the House started debate Friday evening on bills to regulate and tax pot. One bill would state how pot should be grown and sold, and the other would tax recreational marijuana more than 30 percent. A draft bill floating around the Capitol late this week suggests that a new ballot question on pot taxes should repeal recreational pot in the state constitution if voters don’t approve 15 percent...

Craig — Craig resident Craig Rummel appeared before the Craig City Council on Tuesday night with a unique proposal. Citing years of attacks by the Colorado General Assembly on the industries that drive Craig and Moffat County’s economy — namely coal, power and hunting — Rummel asked City Council members to consider passing an ordinance requiring heads of households within Craig city limits to maintain a modern sporting rifle capable of accepting high-capacity magazines. A draft of Rummel’s proposal included exemptions for those not physically or mentally capable of operating a firearm; financially unable to afford purchasing a firearm; who...

A disabled worker fired for engaging in prescription medical marijuana use cannot sue his employer under state civil rights law, the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled. Brandon Coats filed a complaint against his employer, Dish Network L.L.C., after he was fired as a telephone customer service representative in 2010 for testing positive for marijuana. Dish Network said Mr. Coats' marijuana use was in violation of the company's drug policy, according to court documents. In his suit, Mr. Coats alleged that Dish Network violated the Lawful Activities Statute, an employment discrimination provision of the Colorado Civil Rights Act that prohibits...

Colorado legislators moved ahead with efforts to create a uniform statewide sales tax base and to simplify the state tax collection process to conform to the proposed federal Marketplace Fairness Act on Wednesday, but rejected another proposal to require any online retailer doing business in the state to pay state sales taxes. With those votes, the House Finance Committee signaled that it is willing to get in line with federal efforts to require big Internet retailers such as Amazon.com to pay sales taxes but is unwilling to try again to establish its own nexus for who must pay them to...

Warren Watson, a Colorado prison parolee who fled from parole and confessed to a murder in Lakewood, had a long history of such escapes but had still been placed on a comparatively low level of supervision by Colorado’s Division of Parole. ... a series of missteps, miscommunications and questionable judgments in the Watson case, much like in the case of parolee Evan Ebel, who is suspected of murdering Colorado’s Corrections Director and a young father while Ebel was on parole. The parole department is examining its handling of the Ebel case. Internal Colorado parole records now show that the Colorado...

The DOC says an average of three ankle monitors, like the one suspected killer Evan Ebel wore, are cut off every day in Colorado. According to a document released by the DOC Tuesday, the department’s monitors triggered 89,000 alerts in just the past six months. “I want you to think about the scope of information that comes in on a daily basis,” Alison Morgan, a spokeswoman from the DOC. The 89,000 alerts include every type of incident, from a simple power loss to tampering. ... The DOC says the first time Evan Ebel tampered with this ankle monitor was the...

Investigators are still looking for the person who opened fire during the 4/20 celebration at Denver’s Civic Center Park. ... Leon Kelly, leader of an anti-gang organization, says the shooting during the 4/20 rally was predictable. He says tensions in gang neighborhoods are already high and they spilled over in the park. He says the violence wasn’t between rival gangs. Kelly says the shooting was violence between members of the same gang and Denver investigators agree. “Over the last number of months you had friction between in-house battles, Crips on Crips,” Kelly said. Nobody was seriously injured in the shooting,...

It was a daily ritual that many adults remember well: taking your turn in the lunch line, having mashed potatoes and gravy, tater tots, and watered down string beans scooped onto your lunch tray by old ladies in white clothes and paper hats. When you got to the cashier almost everyone paid a dollar or two, but several kids had a small paper ticket that they shyly handed the lunch lady and made their way out to the cafeteria to join everyone else for lunch. Everyone knew the deal, that the kid with that paper ticket was from a poor...

The Colorado state Senate has adopted a bill making it easier for some noncitizen residents to obtain drivers licenses, a move that a Republican opponent equated to providing amnesty for illegal immigrants. “I think a more appropriate title would be the Colorado Amnesty Act, because it is providing a means to be legal, at least on the road when driving, when the individual is in fact not here legally,” said Sen. Kevin Lundberg during the debate on Wednesday. “It is a major step towards amnesty, and that is the concern that I have.” But bill sponsor Sen. Jessie Ulibarri said...

Colorado Springs police arrested an alleged robber Wednesday with the help of a resident, who they say held the man at gunpoint until officers arrived. The robber walked into a business in the 2800 block of East Platte Avenue about 4:30 p.m., demanded money and indicated he possibly had a gun in his pocket, police said. A man from a nearby business followed the alleged robber after he fled with an undetermined amount of money and held him at gunpoint until officers arrived two minutes later, police said.

DENVER — Colorado Democrats, facing electoral recalls and tourism boycotts, have a response for those outraged by their ambitious gun control agenda: more gun bills. The state legislature moved two more gun control bills to the governor’s desk this week, and a third is expected to join them before the end of the session May 8. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed three bills restricting firearms access in March, prompting a congratulatory visit from President Obama. Colorado Democrats have certainly had more success in promoting gun-control measures than their political kin in Washington, where federal firearms bills have run aground. The...

Encana Corp. Tuesday announced positive results from its San Juan Basin oil exploration, saying the testing had “reached commerciality” with production expected to exceed 1,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The Canadian company said it may add a rig by year’s end to the two now operating in the basin, according to the Farmington Daily News.

On Monday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said that including a "path to citizenship" for illegal immigrants in any comprehensive immigration bill would jeopardize the likelihood of the legislation passing. “I think if instead the bill includes elements that are deeply divisive--and I would note that I don’t think there is any issue in this entire debate that is more divisive than a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally--in my view, any bill that insists upon that jeopardizes the likelihood of passing any immigration reform bill,” Cruz said at the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing, according to CNS News....

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) -- A man accused of stealing a Jeep last week may have taken much more than that. Anthony Loveridge, 19, was arrested after theft victim Joseph Bateman found Loveridge sleeping in his stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee on Friday. When Bateman stumbled upon his vehicle, he held Loveridge at gun point until police arrived. Bateman first reported a break-in on April 3 when he returned home from North Dakota, according to a Mesa County Sheriff's Office arrest affidavit. Dozens of items were stolen, including TVs, gaming systems, phones, five guns, thousands of ammunition rounds and his 1998...