By Nephi Cole
Colorado lawmakers are finding out that there are some among them who are willing to trample over nearly the entire Bill of Rights just to squash one particular – and politically-disfavored – amendment.
Colorado state Rep. Ken DeGraaf – a Republican from Colorado Springs, who is also a 27-year Air Force veteran – was forced to cover a pro-Second Amendment sticker on his laptop computer during debate over a gun ban bill. The bill, SB 25-003, is one of the strictest gun control measures proposed in any state in the nation and is being hotly-debated in Colorado. The proposed law was introduced to ban the sale or transfer of any semiautomatic rifle or shotgun that can accept a detachable magazine.
Rep. DeGraaf committed the cardinal sin of affixing a pro-Second Amendment sticker to his computer.
🚨🇺🇸COLORADO GOP REP FORCED TO COVER 2A STICKER IN HOUSE CHAMBER
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 23, 2025
State Rep. Ken DeGraaf says he was told to hide a "shall not be infringed – 2A" sticker on his laptop because it was "offensive."
The move comes as Colorado Democrats push a sweeping gun control bill targeting… pic.twitter.com/Y0PD6kmIEf
Rights Denied
“I had to cover up this, they couldn’t stand my sticker,” Rep. DeGraaf explained during remarks on the state House’s floor, according to Fox News. He pointed to a piece of paper that covered the offensive sticker – which wasn’t so offensive or vulgar that it needed to be censored.
“It said ‘shall not be infringed’ and signed ‘2-A’ and that was considered offensive, which I understand would be offensive to this bill,” Rep. DeGraaf added.
The House speaker presiding over the debate interrupted Rep. DeGraaf to explain, “There’s just a rule that we don’t have that type of things [sic] in the well.”
Rep. DeGraaf understood, answering, “So, okay. No displays of the Constitution in the well. Got it.”
The well, for those who might not know, is the area in the state’s House of Representatives between the chamber’s front desk and the first row of the members’ seats.
The rule, it seems, was being enforced to infringe on one Constitutionally-protected right, that of Free Speech, to attack another, the legislation to ban the sale of an entire class of firearms without express permission from the state to exercise that right. In Colorado, the U.S. Constitution seems to not apply. That shows the level of absurdity and depravity of gun control lawmakers to push their unconstitutional agenda.
Constitutionally-Dubious Bill
The bill, SB 25-003, is likely days away from passage. It is strongly opposed by NSSF and several other pro-Second Amendment advocacy groups. It has endured a tortured path to arrive on the doorstep of passage. The goal was to find a way to ban the most-popular selling centerfire rifle in America – the AR-15 or Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR). There are over 30 million MSRs in circulation today, more than there are Ford F-150s on the road, the most-popular selling pick-up truck in America.
SB 25-003 was introduced in the state Senate has been amended several times and now allows the sale of those firearms provided those purchasing the firearm are vetted by a local sheriff and complete a firearm certification course. House lawmakers stripped out fingerprinting requirements but added a provision to allow county sheriffs to vet purchasers to deny an application if they have a “reasonable belief that documented previous behavior by the application makes it likely the applicant will present a danger to themself or others.”
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Sheriffs could revoke purchasing permissions under the same standard. The ban bill has essentially turned into a permit-to-purchase bill that seems to run into the same subjective criteria the U.S. Supreme Court rejected in the Bruen decision. Those individuals who have documented criteria that would prohibit a firearm purchase would already be flagged by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
Not every sheriff in Colorado is on board. El Paso County Sheriff Joe Roybal doesn’t support the proposed legislation and testified in the House Judiciary Committee, saying the measure “will not make Coloradans safer.”
“By banning the purchasing, selling and manufacturing of semi-automatic firearms used by thousands of law-abiding citizens for home and personal safety, this legislation not only jeopardizes the fundamental right to self-defense but also infringes on inherent constitutional rights, setting a dangerous legal precedent for the future of the Second Amendment in Colorado,” Sheriff Roybal testified, according to The Truth About Guns. “Proponents of the bill claim it will help curb gun violence; however, SB 25-003 will have the opposite effect. This bill effectively targets law-abiding gun owners rather than criminals, who, by definition, do not follow the law and will obtain a firearm through illegal channels.”
Rush to Pass
There are still unanswered questions over how Colorado would administer these new requirements for purchasing semiautomatic rifles and shotguns that can accept detachable magazines. Currently, once a person obtains a county sheriff’s permit-to-purchase the firearm, that person would need to complete a state-approved certification course administered by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. However, no such course curriculum has been approved and funding for the program has yet to be clarified.
“This bill is not ready for prime time. It needs more stakeholder process and let’s have some statewide conversations and if a bill is going to pass, it should be in the right form…” said Colorado’s House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, according to KTTV. “They were different funds that would be used, and even today (Friday) on the house floor, there were changes to the funding structure.”
SB 25-003 has passed Colorado’s Senate and passed the House of Representatives on a second reading. It is expected the bill could be up for a final vote before the week’s end and headed to Gov. Jared Polis for consideration.
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Why did this politician agree to cover up the sticker? Willing to roll over on the the 1st Amendment as well as the 2nd? What’s the point. He can’t stand up for the people he represents if he is unwilling to stand up for himself.
He is just as much a part of the problem as the others.
so i guess they have a redacted version of the constitution that they follow
Does not look like my comment went through. But this needs to be said.
This Representative is as much a part of the problem as the leftists. How can you stand up for those you represent if you do not have the integrity to stand up for your own rights?