Colorado House OKs gun control package

DENVER, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- The Colorado House Monday voted in favor of a package of gun-control measures, including a ban on concealed weapons on college campuses.

Other bills in the package include a requirement gun buyers pay the cost of their state background checks, background checks be conducted on all private gun sales and transfers, and a 15-round limit on magazines.

The bills go to the Senate for its consideration.

Proponents of the campus guns ban say campuses are generally safe and allowing guns would be counter-productive.

"There are a lot of students who simply are not ready to be in the presence of firearms," Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, the bill's sponsor, said. "It's a dangerous mix."

Opponents counter allowing guns would mean college women would be better able to protect themselves from rapists and there would be a better chance someone bent on a mass shooting would be stopped, The Denver Post reported.

In 2003, the Legislature passed a law allowing individuals with a permit to carry a concealed weapon with a few exceptions, including K-12 schools but not colleges. Three University of Colorado students sued in 2008 and ultimately the state Supreme Court ruled administrators could not ban concealed weapons.