"Tighter enforcement of gun control laws might be helpful in some types of crime, but not in crimes like this."

But there appear to be virtually no gun control laws in Colorado - and the existing gun regulations seek to make it impossible to introduce even the kind of controls that excist in many other states.

Here's an extract from their rules about guns:

"Local governments are prohibited from maintaining a list or other record or database of persons who purchase or exchange firearm or leave them for repair or sale on consignment, and persons who transfer firearms unless they are federally licensed firearms dealers, or of the descriptions, including serial numbers, of such firearms.

"Local governments may not enact any ordinance, regulation, or other law that prohibits the sale, purchase, or possession of a firearm that a person may lawfully sell, purchase, or possess under state or federal law."