DENVER -- A petition is now circulating at the Colorado state capitol building, in opposition to the idea of housing Guantanamo detainees at the Supermax federal prison facility in Florence, Colorado.

The state senate circulated a petition Friday which was signed by 39 Republican lawmakers and three Democrats. The petition blasts Gov. Bill Ritter for his support of bringing detainees to Colorado.

The Obama administration is considering whether to transfer terrorism suspects from the controversial prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to the federal Supermax prison in southern Colorado.

Supermax, located in Florence, about 90 miles south of Denver, is one of four prisons being looked at. The others are military prisons in Kansas, California and South Carolina.

Gov. Ritter doesn't oppose the idea but said he hasn't been contacted by federal officials about it. He said a military prison is a more likely choice than Supermax, but Supermax is well-suited for detainees.

"It is a facility designed for just that kind of a person. We already have really extreme terrorists who are being housed there after conviction," Ritter said. "They are the best suited to house and segregate the worst of the offenders."

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., and state Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, have criticized the idea of bringing Guantanamo detainees to Supermax.

"I believe it's a military problem. It really needs a military solution," McFadyen said. "It seems unreasonable to immediately think we should burden the Bureau of Prisons with the military's problem ... Why should Florence, Colorado be the ultimate solution?"

She said federal prisons all across the country are already understaffed.

"When we built Supermax at Florence, it wasn't intended to be the home of terrorists. We do handle terrorists day in and day out, but they're adjudicated guilty," McFadyen said. "It's not their mission to house military detainees."

Ritter said there's an overreaction to the idea of detainees in Colorado, and said, "The sky is not falling."

"I don't think it's appropriate for someone like me, who has supported (Pres. Obama's) decision here (to close Guantanamo), to say now, 'Not in my backyard.'"

State Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, called the governor's comments 'reckless'. "I think it's irresponsible to be sending a pipeline of enemy combatants to Colorado with the governor's welcome mat out. He is rolling out the red carpet. I think it's dangerous, he needs to stop it ... (until) he consults the state legislature," said Gardner.

"I'd like to think that there are better places in the world for these detainees. They had them where they should be. I don't think the governor has done his homework," said state Sen. Ken Kester, R-southern Colorado. Kester suggested, tongue-in-cheek, reopening Alcatraz Island. "You can't swim from that prison to the shore. It's well documented."

Ritter said it's premature to talk about the legalities such a move would create. Some have said the detainees are not actually prisoners so they can't be housed in a federal prison. Others say if they arrive on U.S. soil, the detainees would receive a new set of legal rights they don't currently have.

President Barack Obama has ordered the Guantanamo Bay prison closed in a year -- a move that Ritter and McFadyen support.

"I just think it's premature to suggest to President Obama that we're ready to take these detainees. It really isn't within the mission of the bureau of prisons. I don't even know if it's legal under the federal law," said McFadyen.

U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo. doesn't believe Gitmo should be closed at all.

"Guantanamo needs to stay open, not only to protect Americans here at home but to protect our soldiers and Marines serving in harm's way. There is no doubt the President has the right to review all of the practices used at Guantanamo to determine which ones are acceptable and which ones are not, but he should not close the facility," Coffman said.