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Colorado sheriff won't enforce new state gun laws

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Meredith Jessup
March 19, 2013
This February 4, 2013 photo illustration in Manassas, Virginia, shows a Remington 20-gauge semi-automatic shotgun, a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a Colt .45 semi-auto handgun, a Walther PK380 semi-auto handgun and various ammunition clips with a copy of the US Constitution on top of the American flag. US President Barack Obama Monday heaped pressure on Congress for action 'soon' on curbing gun violence. Obama made a pragmatic case for legislation on the contentious issue, arguing that just because political leaders could not save every life, they should at least try to save some victims of rampant gun crime. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

In light of new gun control measures enacted by the state legislature, one Colorado sheriff is taking a stand and refusing to enforce two aggressive measures now awaiting Gov. John Hickenlooper's signature.

Weld County Sheriff John Cooke toldThe Greeley Tribune that Democrats in the state legislature are pursuing "feel-good, knee-jerk reactions" to recent mass shootings, and calls their solutions "unenforceable."

The AP details the legislation in question:

One bill expands background checks on firearm purchases, and the other limits ammunition magazines to 15 rounds. The 15-round magazine limit would make Colorado the first state outside the East Coast to ratchet back gun rights after last year's shootings in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn. ...

The magazine-limit bill passed earlier in the week will technically ban all magazines because of a provision that outlaws any magazine that can be altered, he said, adding that all magazines can be altered to a higher capacity.

Expanded checks have been a top priority for Hickenlooper, who called for the proposal during his State of the State address in January.

Despite whatever good intentions are driving the legislation, “criminals are still going to get their guns,” and sheriffs across the state "won't bother enforcing" the laws because it will be impossible to enforce all the law's requirements.  Cooke says he and others in Colorado law enforcement are considering a lawsuit against the state to block the measures if they are signed into law.

Cooke isn't the only sheriff stepping forward to protest the new measures. Earlier this month, TheBlaze reported on El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa who accused Democrats of using pay raises to the state’s elected sheriffs as a pawn to force support for the gun control legislation.

In the meantime, Colorado Democrats' gun control measures have garnered national attention, including from the Obama White House:

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