gun control
-
Colorado’s Independence Institute isn’t shy about its NRA tie
Denver Public Schools may have decided to trade weapons for plowshares – it announced last week it would turn down National Rifle Association grants for assorted school programs in the wake of the Parkland, Florida school massacre – but the Second Amendment-friendly, Denver-based Independence Institute is sticking to its guns. As the Associated Press reported over the…
-
Colorado Republicans cancel contract with Best Western over nonexistent NRA snub
The Colorado Republican Party had arranged to hold a fundraising dinner and a slew of district assemblies at the Best Western hotel in Longmont on the eve of the party’s state assembly in Boulder next month. But after party officials got wind that the hotel chain had ended its affiliation with the National Rifle Association…
-
THE PODIUM: Assault-weapons bans won’t work; only gun permits will
A law banning assault rifles, such as the federal ban adopted in 1994, is feel-good legislation, giving the appearance that something is being done to address the problem, when the truth of the matter is that it will not. The first problem is that an assault rifle cannot be defined. Previous attempts to ban assault…
-
BIDLACK: Marco Rubio was right
You have no idea how hard it was for me to write that headline. In the wake of the horrific events in Parkland, Florida, Senator Marco Rubio appeared at a Town Hall event, and got pretty well slammed on the issue of guns. Now, first off, there is a certain irony that some in the…
-
Colorado’s Carno takes to national TV to advocate for trained, armed teachers
Personable but plucky Colorado political operative Laura Carno wears a lot of hats, all tipped to the right. One of them involves serving as face and voice for right-to-arms group Coloradans for Civil Liberties, whose take-no-prisoners motto unflinchingly advocates, “Restoring freedom one round at a time.” And she regularly touts that priority far and wide.…
-
BIDLACK: More guns? Sure, why not? What could go wrong?
Problems rarely have simple, clear answers upon which everyone agrees. I offered a few rather depressing thoughts on guns in my last column, and in today’s missive I’d like to suggest what the White House might call alternative facts that are worth considering. Like most of you, I suspect you have been bombarded with a…
-
I carried an assault rifle into war; the Parkland shooter carried one into a school
When I heard audio of the Las Vegas shooter opening fire on a crowd of concertgoers, I heard the sounds of combat. The uninterrupted bursts of gunfire reminded me of a fully-automatic, belt-fed military weapon. But the shooter’s weapon of choice turned out to be lawfully-purchased AR-15 rifles -weapons easily available to civilians, including the…
-
Former state Rep. Joel Judd goads House speaker to crack down on guns
It just so happens Democratic state Rep. Crisanta Duran, aka Madame Speaker, represents the Denver House district previously held by fellow Democrat Joel Judd. So, maybe it was a sense of investment in his old seat that explained Judd’s decision this week to very publicly call out Duran over Democratic inaction on gun control. In…
-
-
FEEDBACK: Background checks for gun sales; big hand for lawmakers
Gun violence: Thoughts and prayers won’t cut it Of all the arguments made against gun safety proposals, far and away the most ridiculous is the “why have laws at all” argument. “But criminals won’t follow the law! It won’t make any difference!” We don’t have laws for criminals. We have laws for the rest of…