This letter was originally published in the Greeley Tribune.

We have all heard stories about someone making a stupid mistake as a young adult and getting a criminal record as a result.

When I was a Colorado State Senator, Perry Buck told me about a man who wanted to go hunting with his grandson but he couldn’t because he passed a bad check when he was a college student and he plead guilty to a felony. He was prohibited from possessing a gun.

Perry Buck introduced legislation in the state House that would have allowed non-violent offenders to have their second amendment rights restored. It would have allowed a grandfather who made a mistake when he was young, and never received so much as a traffic ticket since then, to go hunting with his grandson.

I carried the companion bill in the Senate because I agreed with Perry that if we are going to restore some constitutional rights like the right to vote for felons then we should show the same compassion and grace toward non-violent felons who don’t pose a risk to society.

Perry Buck is a guardian of our constitutional right to bear arms. I support her for Weld County Commissioner.

Scott Renfroe, Colorado State Senator, retired