PA Bill Number: HB335
Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.
Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: May 1, 2024
Colorado: Proposed bill to allow under-21 military members to concealed carry just makes sense :: 04/20/2016
Too often we’ve scratched our heads at proposed bills that have us wondering what our legislators could have been thinking. Other bills are based so much on common sense we wish to see them zip on through the legislature. (OK, that’s a lot to ask for in today’s polarized political quagmire.)
State Sen. John Cooke’s bill to allow members of the U.S. military to qualify for a concealed weapons permit before they reach the age of 21 — the current requirement — falls into the “makes perfect sense” category.
The Greeley Tribune editorial board isn’t pro all-gun all the time. As with our cherished First Amendment, we support the Second, and recognize there may be a few, limited exceptions, as has been upheld by court rulings over the years.
Cooke’s proposal, which cleared the Senate and was sent to the House, is easy to support. It seems ridiculous to give well-trained 18- to 20-year-olds heavy armament and send them to combat situations with authority to use deadly force, but then say they are not qualified for a concealed weapons permit back home.
These soldiers and citizen-soldiers likely have had much more firearms training than the majority of concealed permit holders. This isn’t to say, however, that just qualifying to wear the uniform means there may not be problems ahead. Military men and women are much the same as the general populace. Some well-publicized shooting and crimes committed by military personnel over the years are proof of that. But being able to carry concealed isn’t likely to worsen that.
Senate Bill 144 amends the state requirement so that the applicant must be 18-21 years old on active duty in, or honorably discharged from, any branch or reserve branch of the U.S. military. They will still have to go through the permit process, with a background check and pay the same fees as everyone else.
The bill has pushback from some Democrats in the state Legislature who are generally leery of loosening any gun control regulations.
However, this is one that easily passes the common sense test and should become law.
