DENVER — It has been nine months since Isabella Thallas was murdered.
The 21-year-old was senselessly killed while walking her dog with her boyfriend, Darian Simon. Michael Close, 36, is accused of shooting them multiple times with an AR-15.
The gun was stolen from a Denver Police officer's home.
Now, Ana Thallas, the mother of Isabella, is speaking out. She is advocating for a new bill in the Colorado legislature she believes will reduce the number of stolen firearms and the damage they can inflict on innocent victims like her daughter.
"I'm just going to speak from a mother's heart," Ana Thallas said. "I'm doing what I feel in my heart is best for my daughter."
SB21-078, otherwise known as the Lost or Stolen Firearms bill seeks to require gun owners to report when their firearm has been lost or stolen. Failure to report a lost or stolen firearm could lead to a misdemeanor charge after the first offense.
"We're not trying to take away gun rights," Thallas said. "We're just asking gun owners to be responsible."
There has been opposition in the past to similar legislation from gun rights advocates. They argue similar laws criminalize law abiding gun owners rather than murderers.
Recently, the NRA opposed a similar bill in Virginia saying "to place an additional burden and the threat of prosecution on crime victims in their moment of despair is the ruthless act of a callous state that exhibits no regard for the hardship victims face as they put their lives back together."
However proponents of the law say the bill is not focused on law abiding citizens.
"As soon as a gun owner realizes that they don't know where their gun is, we ask that they report that to the local law enforcement," said Democrat state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, who sponsored the bill. "We know the majority of gun owners in Colorado are responsible. We're trying to go after the folks that maybe are not paying attention to where their firearms are."
Thursday evening, the Lost or Stolen Firearms bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 3-2 party line vote. It is headed to the House Appropriations committee for further consideration.
