Colorado State Senators Ousted Following Gun Control Recall Votes
Matt Korovesis 09.11.13
Two Colorado state senators were voted out of office yesterday in a hotly contested recall vote that many are using to gauge the nation’s reaction to the passage of strict state-level gun control laws earlier this year.
Senate President John Morse and Senator Angela Giron were both key supporters of Colorado’s new gun laws, which among other provisions require background checks on private firearm sales and restrict magazines to a maximum 15-round capacity. Both Morse and Giron, members of the Democratic Party, will be replaced by Republicans.
Observers had been watching the recall votes closely to better understand public opinion of gun control efforts across the country. Along with states like California, Connecticut, and New York, Colorado passed some of the nation’s strictest firearm laws in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy in December 2012. While supporters of each state’s new gun laws are facing heavy opposition and challenges from gun rights activists, Colorado was seen as a particularly important test case due to the state’s relatively even numbers of gun-control-supporting Democrats and Republicans advocating gun rights. The New York Times reports that Morse’s district was representative of this split, and that Giron’s ouster from her Democratic-leaning district was a significant surprise.
The state had also been in the spotlight following an announcement from Colorado-based Magpul, a high-profile manufacturer of 30-round magazines and firearm accessories, which indicated that they would be relocating their business operations due to the laws’ passage.
The close votes on the recalls further reflect the fine balance between gun control supporters and firearms rights advocates. CNN reports that 51 percent of voters in Morse’s district voted yes on the recall, while 49 percent voted no. There was a slightly larger spread in Giron’s recall vote, with 56 percent voting yes and 44 percent voting no.
While gun rights supporters are celebrating a victory in Colorado, a bill was passed by the California State Assembly yesterday that would prohibit the sale of new semiautomatic rifles with detachable magazines. The bill is expected to quickly move through the state’s senate and onto signature by Governor Jerry Brown.
I've been a history and gun enthusiast since I was a kid. I love to shoot just about anything, from silenced bolt-action .22s to fully automatic heavy machine guns, and I love even more when I get to write about them. My main interests are modern small arms and the military small arms of World War II and prior conflicts, with a particular focus on Russian and Finnish firearms. Reading about guns like the Mosin-Nagant rifle in books and on the internet got me interested in collecting, shooting, and writing about them, and I hope to do the same for others through my work.
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