BELLEVUE, WA – Washington State lawmakers should take the hint from Tuesday’s recall vote in Colorado that supporting extremist gun control, whether in the form of legislation or an initiative, can have a toxic effect on their careers, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.
Voters in two Colorado districts – encompassing Colorado Springs and Pueblo – ousted a pair of Democrat state senators who helped pass restrictive new gun laws in the Centennial State earlier this year. One, State Sen. John Morse, was president of the Senate. The other, Angela Giron, had been thought to be in a “safe” district where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a wide margin.
“Let Colorado be a warning that no lawmaker is immune from the wrath of his constituents,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Gun owner activism is rising because of the Colorado vote, and they will be paying close attention to Washington’s Legislature because of the two gun-related initiatives, I-591 and I-594.”
Initiative 591 is a common sense approach to background checks and the rule of law, while I-594 is a 15-page gun control measure disguised as a so-called “universal background check” proposal. I-591 is supported by a statewide coalition of Second Amendment activists, collectors, sportsmen and law enforcement professionals, while I-594 is backed by a Seattle-based group largely funded by a handful of wealthy Seattle-area residents, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns promised last May to support it.
“Colorado proved that grassroots activism can overcome big money demagoguery,” Gottlieb stated. “Anti-gunners outspent recall supporters seven-to-one, with $350,000 coming just from anti-gun billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Given the choice between defending their rights or submitting to extremist regulation, Colorado voters sent a clear message that they will not surrender their liberty to be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.
“Washington lawmakers will have choices next year in Olympia,” he concluded. “Before pushing a restrictive gun prohibition agenda, they should remember Colorado.”
