DENVER, CO. - MARCH 8: Senator Morgan Carroll, left, meets with
Bill Cadman on the Senate floor. (Kathryn Scott Osler, The
Denver Post)  The bill mandating universal background checks for
gun transfers, including private sales, won initial approval on
the Senate floor Friday.  The bill, House Bill 1229, had one of
the lengthiest debates of the day.  Senators opposed to the
universal background checks say it nothing more than an
infringement on the Second Amendment.  "All we are doing is
imposing costs and burdens on law-abiding citizens and not
making them safer," said state Sen. Steve King, R-Grand
Junction.  State Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, one of the
bill's sponsors, said the bill will create a tighter woven
safety net, keeping guns out of the hands of people who mean to
do harm.  Some disagree.  Assault rifles lined up for sale at
Colorado's largest gun shop, Firing-Line in Aurora in December
2012. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)  "The bill will not improve
safety one iota," said state Sen. Greg Brophy