Last month, Republican state Rep. Lori Saine was arrested at Denver International Airport after bringing a loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol into an airport security checkpoint concealed in her purse. Saine was arrested after requesting an attorney during police questioning, and was released the next after a court appearance.
After an investigation by the Boulder DA, no charges were filed. Rep. Saine didn’t knowingly bring her pistol into the security checkpoint, and Boulder County DA Stan Garnett gave her the benefit of the doubt. We have no doubt Rep. Saine is relieved to have escaped without charges that could have, among other things, made it more difficult for her to own guns.
But much like ex-Rep. Jared Wright, now the General Manager of the Colorado Springs Gazette’s politics blog who left a loaded handgun in a House hearing room back in 2014, this will not go down in history as a model of responsible gun ownership.
This s**t is not ok. This is how kids get killed with handguns. #copolitics
— Rick Enstrom (@rickenstrom) December 6, 2017
That’s Republican donor and ex-House candidate Rick Enstrom rightly condemning Saine’s negligence after her arrest. But sometime between then and now, whatever contrition Rep. Saine may have had after her arrest for being careless with her gun seems to have evaporated:
Because Rep. Lori Saine is a prime sponsor of legislation introduced this week to repeal Colorado’s 2013 law limiting magazine capacity to 15 rounds. This is the same legislation that Saine has sponsored for several years running now, part of the annual futile exercise mounted each year by Colorado Republicans to placate pro-gun voters by making a run at the 2013 gun control bills passed in the wake of the Aurora theater shooting.
Yes, Rep. Saine’s bill was always going to die in the House State Affairs Committee like it has each year. But this time, there may well be a discussion about hypocrite lawmakers who can’t keep their own guns safe. Like ex-Rep. Wright and Rep. Saine. As the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Saine will be sitting right there in testimony while her own irresponsible actions are held up as grounds for killing any bill she offers on the subject of guns.
Because to any outside observer, this is madness.
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Not charged with any crime. Once again, due process is just an obstacle for Democrats.
Fluffy, stupidity, not criminality is the issue.
Nutlid. Where does your cry of "LOCK HER UP!!!"factor into due process?
Lori Saine had her due process and WAS NOT CHARGED. Why should she not be allowed to introduce legislation on whatever she wants?
Do you think it might be better for Republicans politically to have a sponsor who wasn't arrested last month on gun charges? Maybe just for the optics?
How is this not obvious to you? Really, asking seriously?
Maybe they'll have Lebsock carry sexual harassment bills.
I thought Baumgardner was supposed to carry those?
First off, nobody was saying she couldn't, you moron. They were offering an opinion on her introducing this legislation in light of her stupidity.
Secondly, how does "LOCK HER UP!!!" aimed at a woman who has not been through due process square with your party's sudden concern for due process?
Answer that question before you ask me another of your stupid questions.
All right, Moddy, you keep throwing out "due process," so how about you define it for me, including the differences between procedural and substantive due process and any differences between due process rights under the state and federal constitutions. We're waiting to see if you know what due process actually is, or whether it has simply replaced shouting "Benghazi!"
Republicans: do as we say, not as we do.
Next time she flys out of DIA to pick up her next nutter award she wants to be able to avoid the embarrassment of having “forgotten” that she’s carrying her 30-round assault rifle???
If I’m the Dems, I’m voting this out of Committee if only for the sheer joy of getting to listen to Saine testify about her personal experiences of “responsible gun ownership” and what assault rifle jesus would carry . . .
Maybe somebody can record the committee hearing where she testifies and is asked these questions.
assault rifle jesus
Great band name there.
Rick Enstrom says being careless with guns is not okay, but Steve Lesbock is a good legislator and should continue to serve? What the fuck?
he wants Lebsock (D) to change to Lebsock (R) and then create a vacancy.
Ricky Enstrom was a four-star idiot nearly 40 years ago when he was elected one of the youngest county commissioners ever. His grandpa (former state Sen. Chet Enstrom) had more than enough name ID and loyalty to carry Ricky into office. He had many highlights during his one-term tenure (my faves were his owning a head shop that got busted, fist-fighting with a former state legislator) so the family packed him off to Denver to open an Enstrom Toffee candy store. The stuff is so damned good little Ricky can't screw it up. Nice to see that he hasn't learned much.
I covered Chet Enstrom when he was on the Joint Budget Commitee. A fine man and a good legislator. But he was the 18th vote in a 1972 reapportionment that split the Western Slope into two Congressional Districts and West Slope voters nevet forgave him.
Actually, it makes no sense that the charges were dropped.
The law for which she was arrested doesn't include any weasel words
like "knowingly." It merely says it is "A person commits a class 6 felony, if he has any loaded firearm or explosive or incendiary device, …, in his possession in, or carries, brings, or causes to be carried or brought any such items into, any facility for public transportation…" Shame on our DA's and law enforcement for not allowing "forget" to be an acceptable excuse. Doubt the traffic cop would allow you to use "forget" as an excuse for speeding in a school zone…same thing lots of signs telling you to slow down. Lots of signs at the airport saying no to firearms.
By the way, what was Rep. Saine thinking she was standing in the security line for? to see if she had a toothpaste tube over 3 oz.?
She thought she was standing in the line as a regulatory nuisance so other people could be screened for prohibited items.
Worth noting, thanks. We edited slightly to reflect that Boulder County DA Stan Garnett is the one who gave Rep. Saine the benefit of the doubt.
Stan did the right thing. Rep.Saine is an imbecile, not a terrorist.