Thread: Colorado (Anti-2nd Amendment) Lawmakers Ousted in Recall Vote Over Gun Law

NY Times
By JACK HEALY
Published: September 11, 2013

Colorado Lawmakers Ousted in Recall Vote Over Gun Law



A hotly contested vote connected to gun control became a proxy battle, attracting money and support from around the nation.

COLORADO SPRINGS — Two Colorado Democrats who provided crucial support for a slate of tough new gun-control laws were voted out of office on Tuesday in a recall vote widely seen as a test of popular support for gun restrictions after mass shootings in a Colorado movie theater and a Connecticut elementary school.

The election, which came five months after the United States Senate defeated several gun restrictions, handed another loss to gun-control supporters. It also gave moderate lawmakers across the country a warning about the political risks of voting for tougher gun laws.

The recall elections ousted two Democratic state senators, John Morse and Angela Giron, and replaced them with Republicans. Both defeats were painful for Democrats – Mr. Morse’s because he had been Senate president, and Ms. Giron’s because she represented a heavily Democratic, working-class slice of southern Colorado.

In an emotional concession speech, Mr. Morse called the loss of his seat “purely symbolic” and defended the record of the last legislative session as “phenomenal.”

“We made Colorado safer from gun violence,” he said afterward, as his supporters trickled away from a hotel ballroom here in his district. “If it cost me my political career, that’s a small price to pay.”

For advocates on both sides, the stakes in Tuesday’s elections were far bigger than the fates of two state politicians. As money and national attention poured into Colorado, a state of hunters that has been stained by two mass shootings, the races became a symbol of the nation’s bitter fight over gun control, with one side bolstered by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York and the other by the National Rifle Association.

While both sides campaigned vigorously, knocking on doors, holding rallies and driving voters to the polls, gun-control advocates far outspent their opponents. A range of philanthropists, liberal political groups, unions and activists raised a total of $3 million to defend Mr. Morse and Ms. Giron. Mr. Bloomberg personally gave $350,000.

It was not enough to help Mr. Morse overcome the conservative outrage that erupted this winter as Colorado’s Democratic-controlled statehouse passed several gun laws over near-unanimous opposition from Republicans and Second Amendment advocates. Among other things, the new laws require background checks for private gun sales and limit ammunition magazines to 15 rounds.

Mr. Morse’s hand was on the tiller during much of that debate. A former police chief, he said he found himself in a position of not just rounding up votes, but actually explaining the mechanics of guns to fellow Democrats. He brought a magazine to show his colleagues how it worked. In an emotional speech in March, as the debate reached its peak, Mr. Morse stood on the Senate floor and spoke of gun violence and “cleansing a sickness from our souls.”

His opponents pounced on the remark, framing it as a sign of Mr. Morse’s disregard for his gun-owning constituents, as well as a symptom of the widening gap between Colorado’s urban Democrats and its rural Republicans.

Mr. Morse represented a slice of Colorado Springs that straddles those fault lines. His district is closely split among Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters. And on Tuesday, despite huge voter-turnout drives and Obama-style neighborhood canvassing, more of Mr. Morse’s opponents showed up to cast him out.

The passions ignited by the vote were on full display on Tuesday, as opposing sides lined up side by side outside polling places here in Colorado’s second-largest city. They spoke of knowing survivors of the mass shooting inside the Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colo. Two of Mr. Morse’s sisters held up a banner, and complained that their brother’s opponents were twisting his record and his words in bitter attack ads.

A few feet away stood Steven Martin, 53, a recall supporter with a Beretta handgun holstered on his hip.

“It’s a deterrent,” he said. “I love my country.”

The recall movement drew support from as far away as New York and California. Organizers say it began locally, in living rooms and backyards, as a response to new gun-control laws that were the marquee achievements of Colorado’s new Democratic majorities.

Angry constituents around Pueblo and Colorado Springs started to ask one another what they could do. In living room conversations and on Internet message boards for gun enthusiasts, the idea for a recall campaign against gun-control supporters began to jell.

“We’d never been to a rally or town halls,” said Victor Head, a plumber in Pueblo who borrowed money from his grandmother to kick-start the recall against Ms. Giron. “We’d never done much politically other than voting.”

Colorado is one of 19 states where voters can recall state officials, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and no evidence of fraud or official misconduct is needed to gather the signatures necessary to schedule a special vote.

All spring and summer, volunteers fanned out across grocery store parking lots, parks, street corners and residential neighborhoods in Pueblo and Colorado Springs, to make impassioned arguments for and against the recalls.

To many recall supporters, the elections were a way to reinforce their right to bear arms. Others hoped that the votes could stall what they called Colorado’s leftward drift — a shift exemplified by recent votes on gun control, tuition benefits for illegal immigrants and civil unions for same-sex couples.

As he left a polling place in Pueblo, Gordon Seybold, 56, nodded to the “Recall Giron” bumper sticker on the back of his white pickup. He felt Ms. Giron did not represent the rural, moderate voters in her district, and said the flood of contributions to her from Mayor Bloomberg of New York and philanthropists and liberal groups in Washington and California underscored his suspicions.

“It’s our election,” he said. “It’s not D.C. It’s not New York. It’s us.”

Nick Stephens, 21, a student at Colorado College here, though on the other side of the issue, shared the resentment of outsider involvement. The National Rifle Association spent nearly $362,000 to oust the two Democrats, and Mr. Stephens said he felt a “duty” to oppose that effort.

To many opponents of the recalls, the campaign felt like an attempt to bully legislators who had taken tough votes, and represented a costly hijacking of the democratic process. The election in Ms. Giron’s district could cost taxpayers $300,000, officials have said. A statewide poll in August by Quinnipiac University found that Coloradans overwhelmingly opposed the recalls.

Several political analysts said despite the vote’s symbolism, its immediate impact on state policies would be limited. “The sound and the fury, the noise and the money are far larger than the consequences,” said John Straayer, a professor of political science at Colorado State University.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/us....html?hp&_r=1&

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Made My Frick'n DAY

BREAKING: Anti-Gun Colorado Senator Concedes… He is RECALLED


The president of the Senate in Colorado is John Morse… and he just admitted defeat in a recall election. He is now the first-ever senator in Colorado to be successfully recalled.

He was recalled because he helped push anti-gun legislation in the state and openly ignored emails and messages from his constituents. The people decided that he didn’t represent them, he didn’t respect their basic Second Amendment rights, and he wasn’t fit to lead.

This is exactly what activism should look like. When politicians overstep their bounds, they should know that their careers will soon be over — anything else gives them the ability to ignore us and stay in power.

From GunsSaveLives.net:

State Senate President and one of the architects of Colorado’s passage of strict gun control measures earlier this year, John Morse, has conceded the Colorado recall election. He is now officially recalled.
The results are unofficial at this point, but the numbers are nearly impossible for Morse to make up.
The tally currently stands at 52.37% in favor of recalling Morse and 47.63% opposed to the recall with 86% of districts reporting.
Political analysts thought John Morse would need a strong turnout in order to keep his state senate seat in Colorado.
Unfortunately for him, he did not get it. State Senate President and one of the architects of Colorado’s passage of strict gun control measures earlier this year has been officially RECALLED.

Good job, Colorado. Time to repeat this elsewhere.


Read This Next:

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3. BREAKING: Assault Weapons Ban DELETED from Anti-Gun Bill
4. Obama Administration Will Sign Anti-Gun Treaty, Ignore Senate
5. BREAKING: House Votes to Delay Obamacare Mandates
6. BREAKING: Muslim Brotherhood Overthrown in Egypt
7. 3 Shameful Examples of Blatant Anti-Gun Sexism
8. Watch: Rand Paul Destroys John Kerry on Syrian War
9. Democrats Trying to Increase IRS Budget by $276 Million
10. Busted: Obama Doesn’t Even Know What an Automatic Gun Is

http://www.capitalisminstitute.org/colorado-senator-recalled/

Note to politicians: You work for us

By USA Today September 12, 2013 6:55 am

Politicians are not kings. We do not elect politicians to tell us what light bulbs we can buy, how much soda we can drink or how best we can defend ourselves. We elect them to listen to us and fight for what we believe in.
With Democrats in full control of the Colorado government and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg lobbying for aggressive new gun control laws, Colorado's politicians overreached, ignored their constituents and passed legislation that directly contradicted what they promised to do in office. As a result, two of them have been recalled.
State Sen. Angela Giron promised to focus on jobs and instead went after guns. She canceled town-hall meetings and refused to listen to those opposed to her.
Senate President John Morse proposed gun legislation that even his fellow Democrats opposed, and then stated on national television that he ignored his constituents and encouraged others to do the same.
Concerned citizens were denied the opportunity to speak directly to their representatives, and hundreds were turned away from being able to testify at the state Capitol based on the Senate president limiting testimony. Refusing to be ignored, ordinary citizens got together and organized a recall effort.
I supported the recall because I am pro-choice on self-defense. If guns aren't for you, you are clearly not obligated to own one. But at what point does a government official at any level have the right to make the decision on how a law-abiding citizen defends herself? Women are statistically smaller than their assailants. Women are often attacked by multiple assailants. Who has the right to tell me how many rounds I need to protect myself against a rape?
The lesson of Colorado's successful recalls extends beyond gun legislation. The recalls speak to a bigger issue of the proper role of government, and the importance of politicians understanding that they work for us.
Bloomberg lobbied for gun control legislation, then wrote a check for $350,000 to support two state senators who backed him. Two plumbers from Pueblo, Colo., started a recall effort in their living room, gathered thousands of signatures and won.
And, most important, Colorado's voters reminded all politicians of something they tend to forget while they are in office: We hired you.
We can fire you.
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Laura Carno is founder of IAmCreatedEqual.com and IACE Action, which were active in the Colorado recall campaigns.
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http://www.gopusa.com/freshink/2013/.../?subscriber=1