On Tuesday, April 9th an employed janitor in the Colorado State Capitol building discovered a firearm unattended on a shelf inside a single occupancy unisex restroom. The discovery was made at 9:21 PM. Colorado State Troopers assigned to the Capitol immediately responded and took possession of the firearm at 9:26 PM. Troopers unloaded and safely stored the weapon. The firearm was a 9 mm Glock handgun and was loaded.
At 10:14 PM Republican state Representative Don Wilson contacted the State Patrol to report leaving items in the restroom. At 10:20 PM the firearm was returned to Rep. Wilson. A review of video surveillance showed Rep Wilson exiting the restroom at 8:58 PM, indicating the firearm was unattended for 23 minutes before being discovered by the janitorial staff. The Capitol building closed to the public at 7PM that day. After completing an investigation into the incident, it was determined by Capitol troopers that no state statutes were violated and there are no criminal charges pending as a result of this incident.
Individuals with Capitol credentials and access are permitted to carry a firearm inside secure areas in compliance with Colorado gun laws.
*In addition to the information from the CSP Press Release, there have been a couple of other incidents involving guns at the capitol. Last year, Republican Rep. Ron Weinberg had two guns stolen from his car while it was parked outside the capitol. And back in 2022, Republican Rep. Richard Holtorf dropped a handgun outside the House chambers but picked it up right away. State Rep. Mike Lynch had to step down from his role as House Minority Leader earlier in the session due to the fact that he was stopped for drunk driving with a handgun in his vehicle. Colorado State law bars people from being in possession of a gun while intoxicated.
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