Tom Mauser.

Earlier this week, we talked with the Independence Institute's Dave Kopel about a lawsuit against Colorado's new gun-control laws supported by 55 sheriffs throughout the state; see the suit and more below.

Today brings a rebuttal from Colorado Ceasefire's Tom Mauser, who became a gun-control advocate after his son Daniel Mauser was murdered in the 1999 Columbine massacre. He doesn't think much of the sheriffs' arguments.

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Nathan Dunlap.

Governor John Hickenlooper's decision to grant a temporary reprieve to Nathan Dunlap, who killed four people and seriously wounded a fifth in an attack on a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant circa 1993, has been cheered in some quarters, but jeered in others. Tom Tancredo decided to run for governor due in part to frustration over Hick's actions, and both Colorado Attorney General John Suthers and Jefferson County District Attorney Pete Weir have released passionate attacks on his choice.

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Photo courtesy of Mercy for Animals

This week's story, "The Ag Gag War," goes behind the scenes of the guerilla fight between animal rights groups and Big Agriculture.

For years organizations like the Humane Society and Mercy for Animals have being going undercover at America's largest farms, using hidden cameras to show exactly how our food is produced. The footage hasn't been pretty.

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Big photos below.

The FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force has dubbed a crew of bank robbers the Trick or Treat Bandits because surveillance footage shows one member holding a pillowcase like a goodie bag.

And goodies they've collected. The feds suspect them of knocking off nine banks or the like from December 2012 to last week. Look below to see photos of the suspects in action (some of them waving guns), as well as the list of crime sites and info about how you can earn some cash if you can point the law their way.

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Big photos below.

We recently shared a study by University of Colorado academics whose results contradicted sugar-daddy-and-cougars stereotypes. Their analysis suggested that people who marry much older or younger partners are seldom either wealthy or attractive.

Au contraire, insists Brandon Wade, CEO of SeekingArrangement.com, which he touts as "the world's largest Sugar Daddy-dating website." He swears the sugar daddies he caters to really are sexy and rich, and provides figures to counter those naysaying CU eggheads.

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Big photos below.

Yesterday's decision by Governor John Hickenlooper to grant murderer Nathan Dunlap a reprieve from the death penalty -- one that will stand as long as Hickenlooper is in office but can be reversed by successors -- doesn't stand alone. As noted by the Death Penalty Information Center, more than 270 death row inmates have been granted clemency since 1976 -- and before then, a Supreme Court ruling nixed many more. Below, see ten examples, featuring photos and text from the DPIC and another source explaining why the executions were converted.

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More photos below.

Moments ago, Governor John Hickenlooper announced his decision regarding the scheduled execution of Nathan Dunlap, who was convicted in 1996 of killing four people and seriously wounding a fifth during an assault three years earlier at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant.

Rather than granting clemency, as had been requested by those supporting Dunlap, Hickenlooper chose to offer a reprieve -- a temporary delay that can be reversed by a future governor if he or she so chooses.

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Sheriff Justin Smith.

As we noted last week while covering the tragic death of Anastasia Adair, who accidentally killed herself with a new assault rifle, Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith and 54 colleagues have joined a complaint against newly passed Colorado gun-control laws, including a ban of all magazines that can hold more than fifteen rounds and a requirement for universal background checks on gun purchases. What are the arguments against them? The Independence Institute's Dave Kopel, who helped assemble the document (it's on view below), lays out the sheriffs' concerns.

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Michael Hancock.

A much-contested deal to trade eleven acres of open space in the Cherry Creek corridor for an office building in central Denver, pushed by Mayor Michael Hancock and approved by city council in April, has triggered not one but two citizen petition drives to nix the swap and protect the land in question -- one of the last remnants of a prairie ecosystem in the city limits.

Voters may get to decide the matter this fall, although the city's efforts to squelch the campaign may result in a battle in court first.

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Videos below.

If you thought shopping on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall could be expensive before the city council prohibited smoking on the mall earlier this year, just try lighting a cigarette during your next visit.

Since the ban went into effect just over six weeks ago, 35 people have been cited for setting flame to tobacco (at least we think it was all tobacco) while on the mall -- and the potential price for this decision sure as hell ain't cheap.

Get details and see two videos below.

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