Responses from CO Legislators Thread

[avandelay]

I heard this in the debate and had to do a double take. The stupidity.....it burns.

[Great-Kazoo]

I received this same response from Senator Brophy...his was the only one I received from emails I sent to all senators this morning. Preston

Likewise from brophy. Rep dave Young has failed to respond to my e-m informing him of magpuls Full page ad in the DP. major fail on his part and hopefully the greeley tribune will print my e-m to him along with an ireceived no reply to this of other valid questions pertaining to The citizens of Colorado's Constitutional Rights.

[Dave_L]

I've gotten a few more replies back today from the republicans in the senate confirming what we already knew. They'll vote against the bills.

[Mountain Man]

I have yet to hear back from a single democrat in The House or the Senate.

[bogie]

This is a dupe post but I just saw this thread and it belongs here. My email, then my only two responses....

Dear Senator,

Please oppose all bills which aim to restrict 2nd Amendment rights in our state of Colorado including:

HB13-1229: requiring background checks for all gun transactions; Judiciary & Appropriations
HB13-1226: banning concealed weapons on campuses; Education & Appropriations
HB13-1228: instituting a fee for gun buyers to cover the cost of the CBI to perform background checks; Finance & Appropriations
HB13-1224: limiting magazines to 15 rounds; Judiciary

My family, friends, and community are closely watching your actions and will vote accordingly in the next elections.

Sincerely,
bogie
U.S. Citizen
Colorado Resident

I've gotten two responses so far...

I am and will be a staunch supporter of the 2nd amendment. I took an oath to uphold the constitution, and I take seriously and will stand by this I hope to hear more from you in the future. All gun bills still have to come before the Senate. Also, I am not towing a line with a party, As a veteran I actually believe what I say in this e-mail
Larry Crowder
State Senator

Thank you for taking the time to write. We are swamped with emails right now, but yours is important to me and I try to read all of them, especially the shorter ones.
I will vote against any bill that infringes on the Second Amendment, including 1224, 1226, 1228 and 1229, and will support any bill that expands rights for law abiding gun owners.
I am very worried about the negative impacts of these bills to individual liberty, safety and jobs in Colorado. I cannot believe that we are even this close to passing them.
I want you to remember who has been pushing these bills that infringe upon our Second Amendment. No Republican will vote for any of these bills. These bills are supported only by Democrats; even the few Democrats who voted against them in the House voted to enable Democrat Leadership to ram these bills through.
Never forget that. Make sure that you hold them accountable in the next election cycle.

Senator Greg Brophy

[muddywings]

During the Rep email blitzkrieg I got an email from Vigil stating he was a No.
Has anybody gotten a a (D) from the CO Senate side stating they would be a no.
3 votes is seeming like a long ways off right now.

[sniper7]

Same response from brophy then i responded that recalls are being looked at and he said "go get them"!

[sniper7]

During the Rep email blitzkrieg I got an email from Vigil stating he was a No.
Has anybody gotten a a (D) from the CO Senate side stating they would be a no.
3 votes is seeming like a long ways off right now.

Have not heard a thing from any of then with my numerous emails. I think meeting in person is the way to go.

[CO303]

I got the "I'm going to do what my party tells me" answer from Agular today.

[esaabye]

This is what I responded with today



From: ME
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 7:58 PM
To: 'Jonathan Singer'
Subject: RE: Our Silly Gun Law Debate

Mr. Singer, thank you for your response. I am disappointed in your vote and I find the logic you used to be faulty.

As a critical thinker, I wonder how when evaluating the magazine limits you would state “I want to give bystanders the opportunity to get to safety and to stop the shooter (as happened in Arizona)” yet when considering CCW on campus you wish to prevent adults from having the capacity to defend themselves because others feel uncomfortable.

You say that you want to protect the rights of the educational institutions to decide vs. the state, then you place the institution above the individual. So you place the minority above the majority except where you place the majority above the minority. Very inconsistent.

In the end you are wrong, you limit my ability to defend myself in the false hope that criminals will adhere to your laws. This is a simplistic view of the world that does not reflect the reality of human nature.

I am sorry to learn that you are not an effective critical thinker. As an elected official I would suggest that you spend some time building those skills. While we can disagree about policy if your logic is inconsistent then we cannot even have a discussion.

I look forward seeing you at the next election, I’ll be the guy handing money to your opponent.

Thanks,
Eric



From: Jonathan Singer [mailto:repsinger@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 2:35 PM
To: ME
Subject: Re: Our Silly Gun Law Debate

First of all, I want to thank all of you who over the last few weeks took your time to write to me regarding your concerns surrounding gun legislation at the State House. I have never met so many passionate people with such differing views. I spent time with competitive shooting instructors, students for and against concealed carry on campus, gun control advocates, educators, and law enforcement experts.

Before all was said and done, I went to the Longmont Police Department Shooting Range, used firearms for the first time (including the AR-15), and co-hosted a bi-partisan debate on gun laws with former Sen. Ken Gordon, Weld County DA Ken Buck, Dr. John Lott, and John Head. I sat down with constituents who had never even thought of contacting their elected official before and received literally thousands of emails and hundreds of phone calls. My part time staff and I are still dealing with the backlog, and it’s why I’m responding later than I normally would.

Here’s the breakdown of my votes. I didn’t come to any of these decisions quickly or easily. I know I caused a lot of consternation for wanting to examine all of the angles before casting my vote Monday. I’d rather make a tough informed decision than a knee-jerk ignorant vote.

House Bill 1229 - Requiring background checks for private sellers: YES
I voted yes on this bill based on the fact that Colorado’s comprehensive background checks have done a good job so far of stopping criminals from buying guns. When I met with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recently they told me that last year alone, the CBI check resulted in the arrest of over 200 fugitives trying to illegally buy guns. Closing the private seller loophole better protects our citizens and gives sellers the peace of mind that they are selling to a law abiding citizen.

House Bill 1228 - Ending the taxpayer subsidy of CBI background checks: YES
As a former child protection, day care, and nursing home worker, either myself or my employer had to pay for my CBI background check. Last year, taxpayers subsidized gun buyers to the tune of nearly $2 million for that same background check. The average cost of a check is $12.00. This fee for service bill is fair and not financially restrictive.

House Bill 1224 - Limiting magazines to 15 Rounds: YES
Honestly this was a tough one. Some states have limited rounds to 7 per magazine, other states would allow a magazine of 100+ bullets. Originally this bill would have set the limit to 10 bullets. I believe the amendment allowing 15 bullets represents a compromise. I don’t believe that limiting magazine size will stop all crime. But in the case of mass shootings, I want to give bystanders the opportunity to get to safety and to stop the shooter (as happened in Arizona). The bill was amended to allow Colorado magazine companies such as Magpul to continue producing in the state. I hope this will save jobs, and I intend to visit their Headquarters very soon to talk to them about their concerns.

House Bill 1226 - College Campus Ban on Concealed Carry: YES
This may in fact have been the toughest vote for me. I truly believe that campus students, faculty and staff should have a say in their own campus life. The courts took that voice away when they permitted concealed carry essentially everywhere on campus.
Fear was the common thread among students I met with on this issue. Students for the bill were afraid that they could not freely disagree with their classmates without fear of violent reprisal. Students against the bill were afraid to walk home alone at night without some way to protect themselves. The outpouring of phone calls, text messages and emails from constituents and students across the state in favor of this bill put me in the YES column at the 11th Hour. We still have a responsibility to those students who fear for their well-being.
While I believe that those that would carry concealed are a minority, they are not an insignificant portion of the population and they have every right to feel as safe as any student. Since we at the Capitol made this decision on their behalf, it is now our responsibility to work with them to find new solutions.

I know that I haven't necessarily made a lot of friends throughout this debate, but I hope we can continue this discourse respectfully and without our ideologies blinding us to the real fear, passion, and desire to build a better, freer, safer Colorado.

Sincerely,

Rep. Singer


On Sun, Feb 17, 2013 at 6:57 PM, ME wrote:
I wanted to address my frustration while watching this process of debate. I watched many erroneous statements made by those who testified last week but that was expected. What angers me is the idea raised again and again by many of our legislators that we “Must do something!”, regardless of the relevance or impact. I heard several proponents admit that none of the proposed bills would have prevented any of the criminal actions. Despite these realities I heard over and over again that “We have to do something!”

In the business world we don’t take action unless it has a reasonable expectation of success. To do otherwise compounds the situation in unexpected ways. What I have witness thus for in the House looks pretty similar to watching my 8 year old try to make an argument. All emotion, no critical thinking. I am embarrassed for these elected officials when I watch and listen to the debate.

For the record, I am a long time Colorado resident, I have been contributing for decades into the economy and my community. I am the type of citizen you would hope for, I pay taxes and lots of them, I volunteer as a youth coach, I raise money for the hungry and I don’t break the law.

I am also a CCW holder and competitive rifle shooter with a national ranking. This last weekend I used standard magazines of 20 rounds to compete in a competition in Boulder. I also brought a spare rifle for a friend to use for the day. On the way home I took my daughter on a quick tour of the CU campus while I had my concealed pistol on my person. If these laws pass I would have broken 3 of them while no one would be any safer.

I don’t want to be a criminal so if these laws pass I must pursue relocating my salary, service and the significant economic contribution to a state that does not vilify me.

Please consider your vote carefully as I and many other will be watching closely.

If you have any question or wish to discuss this further feel free to contact me. I work just 2 blocks away and would be happy to meet with any of you to better explain how I as a lawful citizen will be negatively impacted by these measures.

Thank You,
ME