Boulder DA vows to step up gun law enforcement

The district attorney for Colorado's Twentieth Judicial District said he will step up enforcement of gun laws in 2016.

Stan Garnett said Saturday that he has been consulting with police chiefs about what tools are available to help prevent gun violence and decided to hone in on two laws passed in 2013.

"They have some tools that I think we're not using enough that can help us keep guns out of the hands of people who are particularly dangerous," Garnett told Denver7. "We're going to make enforcing those law an emphasis in 2016."

Garnett said one of the laws prohibits convicted domestic abusers and people under domestic violence protective orders from possessing firearms.

"One of things we're going to do is an outreach to the domestic violence victims' groups and shelters in Boulder County to make sure they understand the law," Garnett said. "To make sure that (victims) know what the law is, and they know they can trust us and convey information to us if they know that the offender has access to firearms."

The second law makes it a misdemeanor for someone to apply for a firearm background check if they know they're not allowed to own a gun, for example, convicted felons.

"Obviously, if somebody doesn’t know or doesn’t understand the law and they apply and they're rejected, that’s not going to be a crime," Garnett said. "But if you know that you don’t qualify for a firearm and go and try to get one, that is a case we will look closely at and prosecute if the evidence supports it. The reason for that is people that are going around knowing that they don’t qualify for firearms and trying really hard to get one may be particularly dangerous people."

This comes as President Obama says he's considering using an executive order to strengthen gun laws on a federal level. The plan would include closing a loophole that, in some states, allows people to buy guns at gun shows without a background check.