DENVER (DP) - A somber state Senate debated gun control measures for hours Friday in an historic showdown that some Second Amendment activists fear will forever alter Colorado's western image.

But proponents argued the gun-safety laws are intended to protect the public and limit gun violence in a state rocked by twin tragedies - the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999 and an Aurora movie theater in 2012 - and further moved to action after first-graders were slain at a Connecticut elementary school in December.

"We are trying to do pretty simple common-sense things that can reduce gun violence," said Senate Majority Leader Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora.

Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, countered that Democrats are carrying out a gun agenda masterminded by the White House and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Throughout the day there were sly references to East Coast assistance on the gun bills.

Read more in the Denver Post.

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