Fresh off the mass shooting in a grocery store in Boulder, it’s unsurprising that Colorado has embraced still more gun control. It’s kind of the natural order of things in Democrat-controlled states, which Colorado definitely is.

On Monday, Governor Jared Polis signed two gun control bills into law. Neither of which would have stopped the Boulder shooting, but for once, no one really seems to be claiming they would.

Still, they only make life more difficult for the good guys.

Gov. Jared Polis on Monday signed two bills tightening gun regulations in Colorado into law – the first new firearm restrictions enacted in the state since the red flag bill became law in 2019.

The legislation was introduced before the deadly attack on a Boulder King Soopers in March, though the shootings brought greater urgency to the measures, which are mainly focused on reducing gun-related suicides.

Other gun-control bills are expected to be debated at the Legislature later this year.

The legislation signed into law Monday, which passed the Legislature without any Republican support, will affect all gun owners in Colorado.

They’re designed to reduce gun-related suicides, yet none of them address the underlying causes of suicide, namely mental health. Funny how that’s how it always shakes out, isn’t it?

Anyway, here’s what Polis signed into law:

Starting on July 1, Coloradans who own guns will be required to store their weapons in a gun safe or with a trigger or cable lock when the owner knows or should reasonably know that a “juvenile or a resident who is ineligible to possess a firearm can gain access to the firearm.”

The guns don’t have to be stored in a safe or with a trigger or cable lock if the owner is carrying the weapon or if he or she places it in a “secure container which a reasonable person would believe to be secure.” Antique firearms are also exempt from the law.

In other words, screw it if your kid is actually responsible enough to be trusted with a firearm. The state knows your kid better than you because they look at a handful of situations and have determined they apply universally.

Yes, that sounds ridiculous. That’s because it is.

Meanwhile, locked firearms are guns that cant’ be readily accessed in an emergency. That can actually cost lives, all without any promise that such laws will actually save any. After all, suicidal people who are determined to kill themselves will simply find another method.

Of course, if that was all Colorado was dealing with, that would be enough.

It ain’t.

The bill requires gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm to law enforcement within five days of realizing the weapon is missing.

Failing to report a lost or stolen firearm is a civil offense punishable by a $25 fine. A second or subsequent infraction is an unclassified misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of $500.

Law enforcement agencies that receive a report of a lost or stolen gun must enter available descriptive information about the weapon into the Colorado Bureau of Investigations Crime Information Center Database.

Now, I’m a believer that people should report lost or stolen guns, but I oppose any law that attempts to enforce that as a requirement.

First, determine someone actually knew their gun was stolen? Prove it.

Second, a first offense fine of a whopping $25 is bound to make a statement.

Honestly, laws like this are meant to try and address straw buyers. When approached by law enforcement, they claim the gun was stolen, which is how it got into a criminal’s hands. I get the desire to address this, but there are legitimately people who don’t realize their guns are stolen.

It’s well past time to go after criminals for criminal behavior and to stop trying to wrap up every gun owner as a part of the same web. It’s insulting and downright offensive.

Frankly, I don’t see either of these laws doing much except jamming up good, law-abiding people over absolutely nothing.