In a previous episode, we’ve covered that Colorado enacted local pre-exemption to their state gun laws and this last January we saw that Denver wasted no time using that pre-exemption to ram through a ghost-gun ban. Now Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is at it again with his 2022 Public Safety Action Plan that includes “Developing and implementing a Conceal Carry Ban in city-owned facilities.”
Meaning that to combat the wave of violent crime rampaging through the city, Mayor Hancock has decided that you, the law-abiding concealed-carry permit holder, are a threat to public safety.
Recently, Denver’s District Attorney Beth McCann published an op-ed in the Denver Post about using “data to drive Colorado’s crime prevention efforts.” Where is the data that shows concealed-carry holders are a problem?
In fact, the safety plan’s preamble says:
“It is clear that public safety is a growing concern based on increases in several types of crime impacting Colorado…the causes for increased crime are complicated…the COVID-19 pandemic, the proliferation of illegal guns, and social unrest…the opioid crisis, cheap fentanyl, and newer, deadlier versions of methamphetamines are at the center of an explosion of drug addictions and violent behavior fueling crime on our streets.”
Not once are concealed-carry holders mentioned as a cause for this criminal mayhem.
The District Attorney may point to the 141 guns confiscated at the Denver airport in 2021 as proof of a “problem” but attempting to carry those guns through security is already a crime so this ban will only make something already illegal, just more illegal. Of those guns taken from concealed-carry permit holders, how many of those holders were in the process of committing a violent crime? How many were charged with any crime? This would be useful data to know. Also, those guns were detected at TSA security checkpoints and more on this later.
Let’s look at some data of our own and for that we go to the state’s Colorado Crime Statistics.
We see that in 2021, Denver experienced a record 100 homicides (when Hancock was first elected mayor, the body count was 26) and 53 of those deaths occurred on roads, parks, camps, and government buildings. The city also recorded 1,154 sexual offenses, in other words, sexual assaults, 212 that occurred on roads, camps, parks, and educational facilities. From the state’s website, we can’t tell which of these locations was city-owned so for District Attorney McCann to provide data about homicides and sexual assaults in city-owned facilities and who were the criminals responsible would be a good start before implementing this ban.
To get a concealed-carry permit in Colorado, first you need a handgun and for that you must pass a Universal Background Check (in Colorado, even private sales require a background check) administered by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI’s NICS system. Then you must take a concealed-carry class and apply for the permit with your local sheriff’s office, who conducts yet another background check. With this concealed-carry ban, Mayor Hancock is signaling that he has no confidence in the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, and his own sheriff’s office in being able to separate criminals from the law-abiding.
While details of the ban haven’t yet been made public, when Mayor Hancock says he wants a concealed-carry ban in city-owned facilities, let’s take him at his word. By city-owned facility that would include offices, museums, theaters, libraries, the National Western Complex, the Botanic Gardens, community centers, pavilions, fire stations, animal shelters, impound lots, parks, public restrooms, warehouses, and parking lots and garages.
How will the city implement its concealed-carry ban? To do so will require erecting security checkpoints with metal detectors, screeners, and armed guards at every city-owned facility. Denver already has a staffing shortage problem so where will these extra workers come from? The Denver Police is likewise experiencing a “staffing crisis,” so how will they provide more armed guards? The Denver Main Library is especially short staffed because people are afraid to show up for work, not because of Covid but because of violent crime. Mayor Hancock’s solution to combat this violent crime is to tell these librarians that if you have a conceal-carry permit, leave your gun at home and trust him that you won’t be assaulted, raped, or murdered.
If Mayor Hancock believes that banning concealed-carry permit holders is so important for public safety, then he should make sure that the same level of protection he enjoys at City Hall with metal detectors, screeners, and armed guards is available at other city-owned facilities. Plus consider, that hizzoner travels with bodyguards packing heat. Or is the city’s plan to simply post “Gun Free Zone” signs that have failed so miserably everywhere else they’ve been tried?
Denver International Airport is a city-owned facility with TSA security checkpoints already in place. What about the rest of the airport? Will that be affected by a concealed-carry ban? If so, will the city erect security checkpoints along the access thoroughfare to inspect every car, bus, driver, and passenger?
What about the city’s parks and greenspaces? The miles of bicycle trails? Will Denver build fences around each park and trail to control access through security checkpoints?
How much will implementing this concealed-carry ban cost? Remember that every dollar spent on this misguided effort at public safety is a dollar not spent on the city’s real problems like gangs, youth violence, black-market guns, sex trafficking (yes that’s a big problem in Denver), illegal drugs, the homeless, overdose prevention, suicide prevention, and domestic violence victims.
Denver is facing a storm of violent crime and the city needs effective, practical solutions, not theatrical gestures that do nothing for public safety.
If you’re alarmed by the prospect of this concealed-carry ban and live in Denver, contact your city council member. If you live elsewhere in Colorado or outside the state, call or email Mayor Hancock to express your opposition to this ban. Share your stories of how concealed-carry protected you and your loved ones.
Mayor Hancock’s number is 720-865-9000
Contact Mayor Hancock online at https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Mayors-Office/Contact
https://www.denvergov.org/files/assets/public/mayor/documents/2022-public-safety-action-plan.pdf
https://coloradocrimestats.state.co.us/tops/
The Beth McCann Denver Post article (behind a paywall)
https://www.denverpost.com/2022/01/03/beth-mccann-crime-prevention-data-dashboard/
Denver’s proposed Concealed Carry Ban