What was on your Christmas wish list? Some books or DVDs or a shiny new vuvuzela? How about a nice 16 gauge over under shotgun? If you’re a resident of Colorado, you may have gotten that last item under your tree, as gun sales have seen a considerable uptick at the end of the year. Our Townhall colleague, Michael Schaus, takes a very humorous look at an extremely serious subject.

Coloradoans, apparently, like their guns. The great state of New New York (AKA: Colorado) is on track to break the previous record of total gun sales in the state… At least, that’s according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. By year end, Colorado will have conducted tens of thousands more background checks for gun purchases than ever before in state history.

Some of the up-tick in firearm purchases could be contributed to gun enthusiasts’ desire to buy up firearms before legislators and a certain governor (ahem*Hickenlooper*ahem) choose to outlaw the practice. Advocates of recent gun control laws, however, are suggesting the increase in background checks are a result of “universal background checks’; and are therefore proof that the new laws are keeping Coloradoans safer.

“Dozens of criminals would be walking around with a gun right now if not for the new law,” said Rep. Rhonda Fields, a Colorado legislator with no apparent capacity to digest the meaning of the word “criminal”. Because, ya know, dozens of criminals tried to purchase a firearm from drug dealers, gun runners, and fellow gang members – only to find out that they were unable to pass the required background check. “Oh well,” they said to themselves when their fellow criminal reported the unfortunate denial from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. “I guess I’ll just go back to being an unarmed, and passive, member of society.”

Colorado is one of the big states to talk about when it comes to Second Amendment rights. This could be because of the new gun rights restrictions they passed, the elected officials who were recalled because of it or those who turned tail and ran rather than face the wrath of liberty minded voters. Or maybe because it’s just so darned fun to say “Hickenlooper.” But no matter the reason, as Schaus points out, they still have more than their fair share of politicos who seem to be clueless about the realities on the ground.

“The bottom line is, background checks work,” said Democrat State Rep. Mike Foote, one of the bill’s sponsors. “It keeps guns out of the hands of felons and domestic violence offenders.” Well, sure… It keeps guns out of the hands of anyone who bothers to hassle with following the law. It does nothing to prohibit illegal sales among criminals with criminal intent.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Colorado citizens likely committed a new crime this Christmas when they unwittingly circumvented the new gun laws by giving a gun as a gift to family or friends. Unless that gun was accompanied by a background check form, and processed through a federally licensed dealer, the generous gift has just indicted two otherwise law abiding citizens.

By all reports, efforts at passing new gun control laws in Congress remain stalled, but not dead by any means. At the state level, anti-second amendment enthusiasts have achieved far greater success. Colorado isn’t the only place, and their restrictions actually pale in comparison to both New York and Colorado’s draconian legislation which not only immediately established gun registry lists but resulted in gun confiscation. But at least some states’ voters have begun to seriously push back. Obamacare may still be the signature issue of the 2014 elections on the national level, but look for gun owners’ rights to be part of the focus in the states where this fight is far from over.