Colorado wants to hire lawyers to prosecute gun crimes in federal court, some of which are no longer illegal under state law – By Jesse Paul (Colorado Sun) / Dec 18, 2023
The legislature in recent years rolled back Colorado’s blanket prohibition on felons having firearms, but it still exists on the federal level. The state wants to hire lawyers, as Denver and Aurora have done, to fill the prosecutorial void left by the change.
Colorado’s governor and attorney general are asking the legislature for $600,000 to hire a group of attorneys who would be loaned out to the federal government to prosecute gun crimes in federal court.
Proponents say the initiative would target only the most dangerous offenders. But it would also let attorneys paid for by the state pursue cases that are no longer illegal under state law.
The Colorado legislature in 2021 rolled back a blanket prohibition barring people convicted of felonies from purchasing or possessing guns. Instead, only those convicted of committing the state’s most serious crimes, like murder, rape, assault, robbery, arson and child abuse, can’t have a firearm. Felony convictions for drug crimes and car theft, for instance, no longer trigger the ban.
Under federal law, however, a person convicted of any felony crime is still barred from buying or possessing a firearm or ammunition and faces a 10-year prison sentence if found guilty.
CONTINUE > https://coloradosun.com/2023/12/18/colorado-gun-laws-federal-prosecution/
