Colorado House Committee Rejects Assault Weapons Ban

A bill that would have banned the sale or purchase of assault weapons in Colorado was blocked by a House committee after three Democrats joined with Republican colleagues to reject it. The bill's sponsor attempted to amend the measure twice before the vote to narrow it to a ban on specific equipment, but the group narrowly rejected those amendments before nixing the bill in its entirety. The vote came on the anniversary of the Columbine shooting, and its bipartisan nature comes after lingering internal disagreement among Democratic lawmakers and their leadership over the bill.