(The Center Square) – A controversial gun control bill has cleared the Colorado General Assembly and now heads to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.

Senate Bill 25-003, when introduced, initially outright banned the sale or purchase of most semi-automatic rifles or shotguns that take detachable magazines and exempted firearms with “permanently fixed” magazines.

The bill was later amended to allow purchases if an individual secures a “firearms safety course eligibility card” from their local sheriff department and then completes a qualifying firearm education course.

SB 25-003 passed a concurrent vote of 19-15-1 in the upper chamber on Friday after the House passed it with amendments earlier this week.

The bill’s Democratic sponsors argue the legislation is necessary to enforce the state’s 2013 ban on magazines that hold more than 15 rounds. Opponents argue that the legislation amounts to a firearm owner identification card and question its constitutionality.

“We passed legislation – in this building, in this General Assembly in 2013 – that limited the sale and possession of high-capacity magazines over 15 [rounds],” said bill sponsor Sen. Tom Sullivan, whose son was killed in the 2012 Aurora theater shooting.

“In the 10-12 years since, it has been woefully inadequate [and] they were not enforcing it. We knew they were not enforcing it,” said Sullivan, D-Centennial.

Sullivan noted the Boulder King Soopers shooting in 2021 and the Club Q shooting in 2022 as examples where the gunmen used illegal high-capacity magazines.

“If we allow the government to redefine rights as privileges, which I argue this bill does, then we place our freedoms at the mercy of those in power,” Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen said Friday leading up to the vote.

“Rights, once treated as privileges, can be restricted, taxed, licensed and ultimately, if they can do all of that to them, they can take those rights away,” the Republican legislator said.

Gov. Jared Polis is expected to sign SB 25-003 into law.

Other gun bills have advanced through the legislature recently, such as a bill to raise the age for ammunition purchases from 18 to 21 and a bill to require gun show operators to have liability insurance.

Democrats failed to pass outright bans on so-called assault weapons during the last two legislative sessions

(The Center Square) – The United States Department of Education announced it is investigating the California Department of Education for alleged violation of federal law due to its state law banning the disclosure children’s’ gender identities to their parents.

When entrepreneur and Trump administration member Elon Musk announced he was relocating the headquarters of SpaceX and X from California, he shared the ban in question — Assembly Bill 1955 — as a motivating factor.

“Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas,” said Musk at the time. “I did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children.” 

DOE says it is investigating California for violating the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act, which it says “gives parents the right to access their children’s educational data.” 

“The California Department of Education has allegedly abdicated the responsibilities FERPA imposes due to a new California state law that prohibits school personnel from disclosing a child’s ‘gender identity’ to that child’s parent,” wrote the DOE in its announcement.

“[DOE] has reason to believe that numerous local educational agencies (LEAs) in California may be violating FERPA to socially transition children at school while hiding minors’ ‘gender identity’ from parents,” said DOE. “Given the number of LEAs that appear to be involved, [DOE] is concerned that CDE played a role, either directly or indirectly, in the widespread adoption of these practices, which appear to be required by the recently enacted California Assembly Bill 1955.”

DOE cited the supremacy of federal over state laws, and warned that “educational entities receiving federal funding are subject to FERPA and its implementing regulations,” and that “Violation of FERPA can result in termination of an educational entity’s federal funding.” 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said AB 1955, which took effect on Jan. 1 this year, does not limit parents’ access to their children’s educational records, and framed the bill as measure to prevent the outing of LGBTQ+ children to their parents. 

“Under California law, minors cannot legally change their name or gender without parental consent and parents are guaranteed the right to access their students’ educational records,” said Newsom’s press office. “AB 1955 does allow teachers and school districts to hide information from parents, it ensures teachers are focused on teaching and staff are not forced to forcibly out a student’s LGBTQ+ identity absent a request for records and without the student’s consent.”

Lawyer Julie Hamill of the California Justice Center, who sent a letter to the DOE requesting the investigation, responded by suggesting schools are creating non-educational records that may not be accessible to parents.

“Beyond the face of AB 1955, districts are advised to create separate files and conceal information in those files from parents,” said Hamill. “Confidential gender support plans are kept in these separate files. School districts are withholding student work from parents if the student work reveals the alternate identity a child is using at school.” 

According to the California Budget and Policy Center, California is expected to receive $7.9 billion from the federal government for K-12 education in the governor’s proposed 2025-2026 budget, which includes $322 billion in state spending and $171 billion in federal spending. 

Should the federal government withhold K-12 funding, and an additional $7.3 billion for higher education funding, the state could find itself in difficult financial straits, as the proposed budget includes a $7 billion withdrawal from reserves.  

(The Center Square) – As several states go to war with President Donald Trump, filing lawsuits against his directives — some prohibiting transgender athletes from competing against cisgender girls — one rural school district in the Pacific Northwest says it’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. It can either adhere to state law, risking millions in federal funding, or follow Trump’s lead, jeopardizing local support. 

The Kennewick School District, nestled in the larger Tri-Cities area of Washington state, issued a news release Thursday, asking the U.S. Department of Education to step in. The night before, the local school board voted to send a letter to the agency ahead of a potential lawsuit.

The board laid out its plan to file a formal Title IX civil rights complaint against the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, or OSPI, Superintendent Chris Reykdal, and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, or WIAA, over state athletic policies. 

“This is not equality — it’s erasure,” Board Vice President Micah Valentine argued in the news release. “Girls are losing titles, scholarships, and opportunities because state officials refuse to follow federal Title IX. I will not stand by while our girls are robbed of their opportunities.”

The letter cited a recent instance in Spokane Valley, Wash., where a transgender athlete won a girls’ state title, a result the board claims is unfair to cisgender women. The board alleged that the state and WIAA’s stance directly violates Trump’s Jan. 20 and Feb. 5 executive orders.

The directives focused on “biological truth,” restricting transgender participation in sports based on sex assigned at birth.

The board’s letter characterized the athlete’s participation as “demeaning, unfair, and dangerous” to girls competing this season. The letter argued that the Spokane athlete is denying those girls “the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”

The battle isn’t limited to Washington state, either. Trump recently went back and forth with Maine over its refusal to follow the Feb. 5 executive order, and student-athletes have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration over its policies.

Federal judges in Washington state blocked Trump’s orders around gender-affirming care for minors and transgender people serving in the military. Reykdal and OSPI have also mandated that the Kennewick School District revise its gender-inclusive policy to conform to the state’s.

“In doing so, Washington state and the State Superintendent, Chris Reykdal, have blatantly disregarded directives of the [DOE], and the lawful Executive Orders issued by our current President,” the board wrote in its letter, “creating discriminatory and unsafe environments detrimental to our children and particularly damaging to our girls and young women.”

According to the letter, if the district follows the state policy, violating its interpretation of Title IX and Trump’s orders, it could lose over $31.6 million in federal funding, 10% of its budget.

“Like most school districts, over 80% of our budgets are committed to staff salaries and benefits,” the letter reads, “a 10% loss of available funds would be absolutely devastating.” 

“Our school board now faces a serious dilemma: Either the Kennewick School District complies with state mandates that put our federal funding in jeopardy, or it complies with Executive Orders … and risks retaliation from Washington State Officials,” the letter continued.

The board argued several conflicts threaten its ability to create a “safe and nondiscriminatory environment” for 18,000 students. To address the situation, it asked for assurance of federal funding if it follows Trump’s directives, whether his orders preempt state policies, and for the DOE and U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the state over potential Title IX violations.

In a statement to The Center Square, Reykdal argued Trump’s orders don’t override state law. 

The superintendent emphasized state law prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and stated his intention to take legal action if Trump pauses or withholds any federal funding.

“My job as the leader of this constitutional office is to communicate, uphold, and enforce the law,” Reykdal wrote.  “An executive order is not law, and it does not override state law.”

He wrote that OSPI would continue to enforce current law until Congress directs otherwise or federal courts invalidate those policies. Reykdal repeated claims that Kennewick’s gender policies violate state law and civil rights guidelines for public schools.

“States are permitted to provide greater protections for students than what is required by federal minimum standards,” he concluded, “and Washington’s laws fit squarely within the scope of what is allowed by federal law.”

The Center Square contacted the government-funded Washington State LGBTQ Commission and transgender advocacy groups for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

“To the 2SLGBTQIA+ community: your state values you, your state wants you to be here, and your state will fight for your right to exist,” the commission wrote in a Feb. 21 news release. “As terrifying as these federal executive orders are, Washington state is committed and prepared to fight against discrimination and oppression from any administration.”

Gov. Bob Ferguson also weighed in on the controversies during a Feb. 13 press conference. 

“The transgender community, in particular, is under attack right now,” Ferguson said. “As you know, if an individual’s sex assigned at birth is incongruent with their innate gender identity, this can cause varying degrees of gender dysphoria, a serious medical condition. That’s not a political opinion – that’s a medical fact.”

According to the letter, the Kennewick School Board told federal officials it “will not stand by” as Reykdal allegedly refuses to comply with Title IX. The Mead School Board, located near Spokane, Wash., also recently sent letters regarding the state’s athletic policies. 

Erika Sanzi, director of Parents Defending Education, a group self-described as “working to reclaim our schools from activists imposing harmful agendas,” applauded Kennewick’s complaint against the state. 

“I congratulate this school board for having the courage to stand up for basic fairness and the safety and dignity of the girls who have been failed by their state leadership,” Sanzi wrote in a statement to The Center Square. “Title IX guarantees single-sex spaces and athletic opportunity no matter how much the state’s leaders pretend that it doesn’t.”