Could Gun Control Crowd Have Pushed Too Far in Colorado?

It’s been something watching Colorado’s decline into an anti-gun crapshow. Whereas it was once fairly pro-gun, all things considered, that started to change after the shooting in Aurora. I get that it upset a lot of people, and that’s because anything like that should upset folks. The response, though, was wrong, and while the public responded at the time, I haven’t seen a whole lot of that since then.

Instead, voters keep electing the same people who continue to nibble at their rights.

At the Denver Gazette, journalist Chris Dorsey makes an argument that I think we need to consider, though.

For nearly half of Colorado households that include firearm owners, the legislation sent a message. Whether supporters view the new laws as reasonable public-safety measures or opponents see them as unconstitutional burdens, many gun owners interpreted the package as another indication that Democratic leaders remain willing to place additional restrictions on lawful firearm ownership.  

In politics, symbolism often matters as much as policy. Voters frequently respond not only to what legislation does, but also to what it says about the priorities and values of those who enacted it. 

Colorado has seen this movie before. In 2014, Governor John Hickenlooper won reelection by a narrow margin after years of controversy surrounding his support for gun-control legislation, including universal background checks and the state’s magazine-capacity limit.  

Those measures triggered recall elections, energized gun-rights activists, and transformed what had long been considered a reliably outdoors-oriented constituency into an increasingly organized political force. Even after more than a decade, those battles remain part of Colorado’s political memory. 

Today’s environment may prove even more volatile. Recent polling has suggested growing dissatisfaction among Colorado voters across a range of issues, extending well beyond firearms. Whether that frustration ultimately translates into electoral change is impossible to know. But history suggests that when motivated voters believe a constitutional right is under sustained attack, turnout often exceeds expectations. Gun owners have repeatedly demonstrated that they vote not simply for candidates but for judicial philosophies that will outlast any single administration. 

My reading here is that Dorsey thinks gun owners, who have largely just kind of shrugged at what’s been happening, might finally have been pushed too far and will step up and show us the same fire that led to those recalls.

It’s an interesting thought, and it’s a hopeful one. I pray he’s right.

The problem is that 2014 was a while ago. A lot of people from states like California have moved into the state, and a lot of people who would have stepped up with gun owners have left. It’s simply not what it was a dozen years ago, and so that casts some serious doubt on Dorsey’s hypothesis.

Sure, gun owners are passionate voters and have an ability to organize that allows them to punch above their weight when you consider raw numbers, but the question I have is, where have they been since then? I ask because I know Rocky Mountain Gun Owners keeps fighting the good fight, so it’s not like no one is trying there.

Right now, I’m like the X-Files poster. I’m a UFO on a darkened sky, and the text, “I want to believe!” is written on it. I really do want to, even if I never set foot in Colorado again, I want things to be better there.

But I need to see something to suggest this is more than wishful thinking before I’ll get my hopes up.

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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