In a significant shift from his statements earlier this year, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper now says "the time is right" for Colorado lawmakers to consider further gun restrictions, says the Denver Post. The governor made his comments in an interview with The Associated Press months after the mass shooting in an Aurora movie theater that killed 12 and injured at least 58. His latest words also follow a shooting in an Oregon mall Tuesday that left three dead, including the gunman, who shot himself.

Soon after the Aurora shooting, he expressed skepticism that tougher gun laws would have stopped suspected gunman James Holmes' July 20 rampage in the theater. Hickenlooper told AP issues that merit discussion include "things like 'Do we all need assault weapons?' " Such arms, he said, are "designed for warfare" and "designed to pierce bulletproof vests and body armor." He added, later, "When you look at what happened in Aurora, a great deal of that damage was from the large magazine on the AR-15 (rifle). I think we need to have that discussion and say, 'Where is this appropriate?' " Republicans said the Democratic governor appeared to be flip-flopping on gun issues.