Colorado passes through juvenile crime package.

In the first special session of its kind in the nation, Colorado in September passed a tough new gun-control bill aimed at kids, and created a new penal system for hard-core juvenile offenders.

During the five days and nights of its work on youth violence, the Colorado General Assembly considered 36 bills and passed 10 amid relentless lobbying by the National Rifle Association and other interests. Lawmakers were called into session by Governor Roy Romer following a spring and summer punctuated by gang murders and random drive-by shootings.

Now, anyone under 18 caught carrying a handgun in Colorado will be jailed immediately for a minimum of five days, and can remain in jail without bail for 60 days until trial. The sentence for the first offense is up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Repeat offenses are punishable by up to three years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Parents or others who furnish a gun to a juvenile face six years in prison and a $500,000 fine. The legislature exempted youngsters who are hunting or target-practicing or traveling to or from such activities, provided guns are not loaded.

The state's new Youthful Offender System allows the most violent 14- to 17-year-olds to be sentenced as adults and placed in a new prison system run by the adult corrections department, not the division of youth services, to keep them away from kids convicted of less serious crimes. There they must earn rewards in order to watch television or participate in recreation. If they don't follow the rules, they can be kicked into the adult prison system and serve their sentences there.

The governor had requested a new 300-bed prison as part of the youth offender system, but it was put on hold. Instead, the legislature retained 96 new beds for violent juveniles in an existing adult prison as a pilot program.

The package will cost about $40 million the...