The Shift Begins in Colorado

Two New Senators are sworn in in Colorado!

Two Republicans were sworn in Thursday to replace the Colorado Senate Democrats they defeated in historic recalls over new gun restrictions.

Former Colorado Springs Councilman Bernie Herpin and retired Pueblo police officer George Rivera took the oath of office in front of a Senate packed with Republican lawmakers and other supporters in the gallery. They were greeted with loud cheers and applause.

Herpin said in his opening speech that he would “never forget the lesson of this summer.”

“We serve at the pleasure of those we represent,” he said.

Meanwhile from the unemployment lines:

As a state legislator now branded by the word “recalled,” I can identify with that weariness. Gun legislation has stalled in Congress because lawmakers fear the fate I suffered — being targeted, voted out or recalled by extremist political activists because of views on firearms safety that dare challenge the gun lobby. The recall fight that my colleague, Colorado Senate President John Morse, and I lost demonstrated that no matter the cost of our political positions, common-sense gun-safety legislation is achievable. Colorado’s newest gun-safety laws have been in effect for months, and the recalls have no bearing on them. The legislation we helped pass proves that the gun lobby can be beaten.

That’s defeated and shunned FORMER State Senator Angela Giron.

Yep, even tho she has LOTS of time to pen these case studies in denial.

These proposals were, and still are, supported by an majority of Colorado voters. But our experience here in Colorado has been that, while extremist groups have a hard time making their case to general-election voters, they have far more control in low-turnout special elections.

You wanna bet? Dave Kopel doesn’t think so!

As of today, those laws are still on the books. The Senate used to be split 20-15 with a Democratic majority. The majority is now reduced to 18-17. More important, because the Senate’s two pro-Second Amendment Democrats voted against it, the magazine ban passed by only a single vote. After the recall, the Colorado Senate has a pro-Second Amendment majority — enough to repeal the ban on magazines holding more than 15 rounds.

In the state’s House, there may already be a majority for repeal. The magazine ban passed there in February by only three votes, and by March widespread buyer’s remorse had spread among Democrats who voted in favor of the ban. That’s a reason the bill’s managers couldn’t let the bill go back to the House for amendments, even after it became clear that it had major drafting defects.

The bill only passed the House in the first place because Vice President Joe Biden called undecided state Democratic representatives and essentially ordered them to vote for it. After the recall, White House promises of electoral protection for legislators who vote against guns no longer have credibility.

Who are the “Extremists” and who were the ones that had to fight tooth and nail with lots of outside influence that had ZERO concerns for the constituency of Colorado, to BARELY pass a bad law?

I cannot imagine this law living long in Colorado.