AG Weiser is for — and against — felons with guns | BRAUCHLER

Attorney General Phil Weiser has a seemingly schizophrenic approach to addressing the liberally defined term “gun violence.” He has a chance to bring clarity and sanity to his position this legislative session with Senate Bill 24-107.

A brief recap to highlight the unusual approach Weiser has taken.

In 2018, during his successful run for AG (against me), Weiser pledged to “stand up to defend, enforce and build on Colorado's gun violence prevention protections.” At the time, one of the efforts Weiser pledged to “defend, enforce and build on” included a law prohibiting all convicted felons from possessing firearms. It is called Possession of a Weapon by a Prior Offender (POWPO). The federal government has a similar law.

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Only two years after taking office (2021), Weiser championed a change in our POWPO law to allow all sorts of convicted felons, including those convicted of drug dealing, organized crime, arson, burglary, car theft and others, to possess firearms in Colorado. The public and law enforcement outcry to Senate Bill 21-271 caused the legislature to again amend the POWPO law to add back in several felonies to the list of gun-disqualifying convictions the very following year in House Bill 22-1257. Law enforcement, including the County Sheriffs of Colorado, which represents the state’s sheriffs on public policy issues, wanted convicted drug dealers and car thieves prevented from lawfully possessing guns. Again, Weiser campaigned against them and against adding back in drug manufacturing, drug dealing and car theft to the law.

Months later, Weiser launched a re-election video featuring Ouray County Sheriff Justin Perry, who said the election was “about keeping guns out of the hands who should not have them,” and Weiser was the person to do it.

Come again?

And what happened, then? Well, in Whoville they say Weiser’s concept of gun violence prevention grew three sizes that day (nod to Seuss).

Earlier this year, Weiser made a bizarre request for $600,000 of Colorado taxpayer money to hire prosecutors he intended to loan to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to help them prosecute federal laws. Specifically, Weiser wanted us to supplement the ability of the Feds to enforce laws prohibiting all convicted felons from possessing firearms, including prosecuting Colorado felons who would newly be able to possess firearms under the recently watered-down Colorado law championed by Weiser twice in each of the past two years.

Last week, the Joint Budget Committee rejected his budget request. I guess the Feds will just have to deficit-spend to enforce their laws.

Also last week, Weiser joined 21 other Democrat attorneys general — including those from California, New York and Washington, D.C. — in filing a brief supporting the same federal law prohibiting all felons from possessing firearms. The amicus (friend of the court) brief filed in U.S. v. Glen Prince, presumably reviewed by Weiser, is misleading about Colorado’s current law. It claims “at least 37 States and the District of Columbia have determined — consistent with the federal government — that imposing restrictions on all those with felony convictions is appropriate to promote public safety and curb gun violence within their borders. Among those jurisdictions, 32 states (including Colorado) bar convicted felons from possessing firearms for an indefinite period.”

This is false under current Colorado law, and Weiser knows it because he fought — twice — to change our law to allow most convicted felons to possess guns in Colorado.

In three consecutive years, Weiser has fought to reduce Colorado’s ability to prevent felons from possessing firearms, and then fought for the federal power to do exactly the opposite. Phil, what is your position?

Enter state Sen. Bob Gardner and Rep. Gabe Evans, both veterans and candidates for Congress this cycle, to give Weiser an answer consistent with his 2018 campaign promise and his 2022 re-election video. SB 24-107, a simple, one-page bill, would fix our POWPO statute by adding back in convicted drug dealers, car thieves and gun thieves to the list of those who would be prohibited from possessing guns in Colorado. The fiscal note for enforcement of that common-sense, long-overdue change is $160,000 less than what Weiser wanted to spend on prosecutors loaned to the Feds to enforce their law.

It takes courage to recognize and admit mistakes, the kind of courage expected by Coloradans of their attorney general. It takes wisdom to work to fix those mistakes, the kind of wisdom Coloradans expect from a presumable future candidate for governor. It takes neither to be a feckless politician blown this way and that by the winds of the day.

George Brauchler is the former district attorney for the 18th Judicial District and is a candidate for district attorney in the newly created 23rd Judicial District. He has served as an Owens Early Criminal Justice Fellow at the Common Sense Institute. Follow him on Twitter(X): @GeorgeBrauchler.