Once Again, "Gunmageddon" Fizzles At Colorado Capitol

23 Comments

by: Colorado Pols

Empty seats in Colorado House gun bill hearing yesterday.

Yesterday's debate over the repeal of 2013 gun safety legislation, as well as a few new bills to deregulate concealed carry permits and make it easier to transfer machine guns (yes, that's right), featured a number of interesting twists–on the way to an outcome that was more or less a foregone conclusion before the day began. As the Denver Post's Lynn Bartels reports:

The family of victims of gun violence provided the most dramatic testimony Monday afternoon as lawmakers in separate House and Senate committees debated seven Republican gun bills that loosened gun restrictions, expanded gun rights or overturned gun-control legislation Democrats passed two years ago.

"My sister had a right to life," said Jane Dougherty of Littleton, whose sibling was killed at Sandy Hook. "My sister had a right to grow old. … Nobody ever died from a background check."

Many of the arguments for or against the bills are the same ones lawmakers have heard before, but this time around there wasn't the vitriol that marked the 2013 hearings. Instead of hundreds of Coloradans descending on the Capitol, forcing staffers to set up overflow rooms, there were seats available in the committee rooms. [Pols emphasis]

A total of seven gun-related bills were debated, five in the House and two in the Senate. Everyone literate in the process in the building yesterday knew the Senate bills would make it out of committee, and the House bills would die. It's likely that the Senate bills will pass on the strength of that chamber's single-seat Republican majority, after which they will be sent to die in the same House State Affairs "kill committee" that killed five bills yesterday. All of this is just a sideshow, of course, since even if gun rights supporters were to somehow get any of these bills through the House and to Gov. John Hickenlooper's desk, he'll veto them and that's the end of it.

Despite this, both the National Rifle Association and Rocky Mountain Gun Owners heavily promoted yesterday's hearings to their members, urging them to turn out and testify in the large numbers seen when the 2013 laws were up for debate. Last year, the GOP introduced a similar slate of repeal bills, but lost face after the vast crowd of gun rights supporters from 2013 failed to turn out again. The excuse offered at that time by the gun lobby was that the efforts of their members were being directed to the upcoming elections.

So what's the excuse now, you ask?

Dudley Brown, head of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, the state's most strident gun rights group, says the reason Monday appeared fairly tame is many members felt they did their work in last year's election.

Except…they didn't.

After all the promises of vengeance against Democrats after the 2013 gun bill brouhaha, and the subsequent recall elections, it's obvious today that the gun issue did not result in the sweeping success for Republicans that Dudley Brown predicted. During a powerful Republican wave election that had everything to do with national political storylines and little to do with Colorado, Republicans took one chamber of the state legislature by a single seat–just like they did in the last Republican wave year. But they did not take full control of the legislature, and they did not elect a governor who will do their bidding. And for good measure, both Democratic seats lost in the 2013 recalls were retaken by wide margins–one of them by the former state director of the much-reviled Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

So what is this "work" that Dudley Brown has done? We know that Brown has raised tremendous sums of money agitating gun owners. But apart from winning a few more Republican primaries last year, RMGO has done basically nothing to create a political climate that could actually bring about repeal of the 2013 gun safety laws. And if that is not their "work," what is? Where is all that money going?

The fact is, yesterday was their chance: to re-energize the gun owning grassroots after the election, and show that the momentum coming out of the 2013 recalls has not been lost. The failure to even fill these hearings–let alone "overflow" areas to accommodate a larger crowd, and nothing remotely like the massive protests in 2013 in and outside the capitol–tells the story of a battle won two years ago, and a war lost today.

23 thoughts on “Once Again, “Gunmageddon” Fizzles At Colorado Capitol”

Diogenesdemar says:

February 3, 2015 at 9:23 am

Sucks to be Dudley . . .

(. . . but, really, who didn't know that already?!?)

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bullshit! says:

February 3, 2015 at 10:09 am

This is great to see. I wonder what Dudley spent all that money on?

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1. FrankUnderwood says:
  
  February 3, 2015 at 12:05 pm
  
  Laura Waters Woods and a pair of Nevilles.
  
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Gilpin Guy says:

February 3, 2015 at 10:39 am

My guess is that none of the aggrieved gun worshippers wanted to asked who they knew personally had their guns unjustly grabbed in the last two years. Not a one of them could honestly answer that question with a specific name. Vague fear only works when there are no results or history to judge the statements.

Most potent line in the article: "Nobody died from a background check"

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1. Gilpin Guy says:
  
  February 3, 2015 at 10:40 am
  
  typo
  
  s/b gun worshippers wanted to be asked . . .
  
  aside: This editor sucks Pols but you already knew that.
  
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Moderatus says:

February 3, 2015 at 10:57 am

Arrogance.

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1. Smoking Mirror says:
  
  February 3, 2015 at 11:15 am
  
  Sloth
  
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2. Gilpin Guy says:
  
  February 3, 2015 at 11:35 am
  
  Is this a word game gun worshipper or are you describing Dudley?
  
  If it a word game than Idolater
  
  God hates you and your craven images.
  
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3. BlueCat says:
  
  February 3, 2015 at 11:48 am
  
  Whose?
  
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  1. OrangeFree says:
    
    February 3, 2015 at 1:34 pm
    
    The Dems, of course. Don't you see? Only winning the State Senate by one seat is a mandate that means Democrats should let them do whatever they wish.
    
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    1. Moderatus says:
      
      February 3, 2015 at 1:39 pm
      
      If this is the Democrat attitude, it's possible you are not done paying for your transgressions. Democrats must repeal the mag ban or amend it to include standard 30 round mags. You will keep losing voters until this happens.
      
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      1. BlueCat says:
        
        February 3, 2015 at 1:58 pm
        
        How do you explain Dems getting back the two seats they lost in the recall?
        
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        Gilpin Guy says:
        
        February 3, 2015 at 8:30 pm
        
        Talk about an arrogant prick. The dirty little shit can't come up with one name of one person that has been adversely and unjustly victimized by these gun regulations. Brave talk about losing voters but he doesn't talk about how no one has lost their life because of background checks. What gun worshipping idolater. God hates them for their sacrilegious obsession with murder weapons.
        
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        Moderatus says:
        
        February 4, 2015 at 1:59 pm
        
        Because they are unenforceable, the biggest victim of Democrat gun control has been Democrat politicians.
        
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        Negev says:
        
        February 4, 2015 at 5:14 pm
        
        I cant think of one mass shooter who did not pass a background check. Can you? Here are the names of a few unjustly victimized by your background check:
        
        Ross Abdallah Alameddine
        
        Age: 20
        Hometown: Saugus, Mass.
        
        More Information »
        
        Christopher James "Jamie" Bishop
        
        Age: 35
        Hometown: Pine Mountain, Ga.
        
        More Information »
        
        Brian Bluhm
        
        Age: 25
        Hometown: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
        
        More Information »
        
        Ryan Clark
        
        Age: 22
        Hometown: Martinez, Ga.
        
        More Information »
        
        Austin Cloyd
        
        Age: 18
        Hometown: Blacksburg, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        Jocelyne Couture-Nowak
        
        Position: French Instructor
        
        Hometown: Montreal, Canada
        
        More Information »
        
        Kevin Granata
        
        Age: 46
        Hometown: Toledo, Ohio
        
        More Information »
        
        Matthew G. Gwaltney
        
        Age: 24
        Hometown: Chester, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        Caitlin Hammaren
        
        Age: 19
        Hometown: Middletown, N.Y.
        
        More Information »
        
        Jeremy Herbstritt
        
        Age: 27
        Hometown: Bellefonte, Pa.
        
        More Information »
        
        Rachael Elizabeth Hill
        
        Age: 18
        Hometown: Richmond, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        Emily Hilscher
        
        Age: 19
        Hometown: Woodville, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        Jarrett Lane
        
        Age: 22
        Hometown: Narrows, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        Matthew J. La Porte
        
        Age: 20
        Hometown: Dumont, N.J.
        
        More Information »
        
        Henry Lee
        
        Hometown: Roanoke, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        Liviu Librescu
        
        Age: 76
        Hometown: Romania
        
        More Information »
        
        G.V. Loganathan
        
        Age: 51
        Hometown: Tamil Nadu, India
        
        More Information »
        
        Partahi Lumbantoruan
        
        Age: 34
        Hometown: Indonesia
        
        More Information »
        
        Lauren McCain
        
        Age: 20
        Hometown: Hampton, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        Daniel O'Neil
        
        Age: 22
        Hometown: Lincoln, R.I.
        
        More Information »
        
        Juan Ramon Ortiz
        
        Age: 26
        Hometown: Bayamon, Puerto Rico
        
        More Information »
        
        Minal Panchal
        
        Age: 26
        Hometown: Mumbai, India
        
        More Information »
        
        Daniel Perez Cueva
        
        Age: 21
        Hometown: Woodbridge, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        Erin Peterson
        
        Age: 18
        Hometown: Chantilly, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        Mike Pohle
        
        Age: 23
        Hometown: Flemington, N.J.
        
        More Information »
        
        Julia Pryde
        
        Age: 23
        Hometown: Middletown, N.J.
        
        More Information »
        
        Mary Read
        
        Age: 19
        Hometown: Annandale, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        Reema Samaha
        
        Age: 18
        Hometown: Chantilly, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        Waleed Shaalan
        
        Age: 32
        Hometown: Zagazig, Egypt
        
        More Information »
        
        Leslie Sherman
        
        Age: 20
        Hometown: Springfield, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        Maxine Turner
        
        Age: 22
        Hometown: Vienna, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        Nicole White
        
        Age: 20
        Hometown: Smithfield, Va.
        
        More Information »
        
        There are many, many more. If you think charging billie bob and his brother/uncle 10 bucks for a private transfer is going to stop this problem, you best keep praying to that god you Idolate its the best chance you have.
        
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      2. Duke Cox says:
        
        February 3, 2015 at 3:21 pm
        
        Moderatus, you owe me an answer….
        
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        BlueCat says:
        
        February 3, 2015 at 6:56 pm
        
        Guess he's taking along nap.
        
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        BlueCat says:
        
        February 3, 2015 at 6:56 pm
        
        That would be a long.
        
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        Moderatus says:
        
        February 4, 2015 at 1:59 pm
        
        About what? I answered
        
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doremi says:

February 3, 2015 at 1:55 pm

Affirming that more people came to testify to support keeping the 2013 laws than did to speak for repealing them.

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1. Negev says:
  
  February 4, 2015 at 12:56 pm
  
  My guess is gun nuts found its much easier to ignore the laws than change them.
  
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  1. Diogenesdemar says:
    
    February 4, 2015 at 1:31 pm
    
    Most criminals do.
    
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    1. Gilpin Guy says:
      
      February 4, 2015 at 1:40 pm
      
      Mandatory compliance of laws is only required when they are sponsored and passed by Republicans. Everything else is optional and can be ignored.
      
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