by:
Jack Minor
Colorado voters attempting to recall two state lawmakers who helped
pass a rash of draconian gun control laws that were rammed through the
legislature now charge that Chicago-style thug tactics are being used to
get them to recant their signatures.
“Everyone who signed a recall petition has received multiple phone
calls, mailers and face- to-face visits in an attempt to get them to
remove their name,” said Victor Head, a plumber from Pueblo.
“Our small town is now facing Chicago thug tactics by [those]
attempting to prevent us from exercising our rights to hold our elected
officials accountable for their votes.”
Head is the chief of Pueblo Freedom and Rights and one of three
sponsors of a recall petition against Democratic State Sen. Angela Giron
for her gun control votes during the recent legislative session.
Democrats who control both chambers pushed through a series of gun
control measures despite widespread opposition from state residents and
law enforcement officials.
The laws include a ban on any magazine that can be modified to hold
more than 15 rounds. Since magazines have a removable plate on the
bottom to ease in cleaning, the law can be interpreted as a ban on the
sale of all magazines in the state. Additionally, the law prohibits the
simple act of handing a magazine or firearm to a person to assist with
clearing a jam, calling it an illegal transfer.
The laws have been challenged in court by the majority of the state’s
sheriffs, who call them unconstitutional and unenforceable.
After passage of the laws, residents began a recall movements against
four legislators who supported the gun control laws. Voters were able
to gather sufficient signatures for recall elections against Senate
President John Morse and Giron.
During the signature gathering process, Colorado Recall Watch, a
group dedicated to fighting the recall against Morse, placed a robocall
to Colorado Springs residents claiming that the effort were being
spearheaded by outside groups.
“Wealthy special interest groups have launched efforts to recall dedicated public servants across Colorado,” the website says.
Head says the claim that the recall is anything but a grass roots effort is a complete fabrication.
“No one is out-of-state. I’m sitting in my house. … I was born and
raised in this town. All of us on the petition grew up in the area, and
everyone involved in this process are long-term residents. Of a total of
$25,000 in support we have raised, maybe $1,000 has come from out of
state.”
A review of Pueblo United For Angela, a committee supporting Giron in
the recall, reveals the group is getting money from big donors and
outside interests.
The Washington, D.C.- based Sixteen Thirty Fund has given $35,000 to
help Giron fight the recall while Citizens for Integrity and Mainstream
Colorado, both Denver-based organizations, donated $20,000 and $15,000
respectively. Additionally, the American Federation of State, Federal
and Municipal Employees union, based in Washington, has contributed
$3,500.
The robocall by Colorado Recall Watch suggested that signatures
gatherers were criminals and encouraged residents to demand they leave
their property if they come to the door. The message even suggested
residents call the police on the signature gatherers.
“Criminals, convicted of forgery, fraud and even sexual assault – if
they are not already, these workers will be in your neighborhood soon,”
the alert says.
Despite the tactics, petition gatherers were able to gather enough
signatures to have a recall election against Morse and Giron. However,
after the signatures were turned into Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s
office, petition signers found themselves the subject of a series of
intimidating tactics attempting to get them to recant their signatures
for recalling Giron and Morse.
“People who signed the petition received a phone call from a live
person asking them if they wanted to remove their signatures from the
petition,” Head explained. “This was followed up by two different
mailers which contained a postcard that people could send back asking
for the removal of their signatures from the petition and then after
that they sent people to go door-to-door to visit the people who signed
the petition.”
Head said the pressure by Giron supporters was approaching harassment.
“I had one woman who told me she had nine missed phone calls from
Pueblo United For Angela while another woman said she had four phone
calls and two door knocks in a single day,” he said. “While they are not
technically breaking any laws the constant follow-ups is almost
borderline harassment.”
Jim Elson, a voter who signed the petition against Giron, told the
Pueblo Chieftain he was berated by a caller from Pueblo United For
Angela.
“An individual called and asked if I remembered signing a petition
pertaining to Senator Angela Giron. Of course I remember signing that
petition,” Elson said. “He laughed at me and said, ‘Well, do you know
you signed a petition that contained false and fictitious information?’
He then went on to say that I didn’t know what I was signing.
“Why do you call me at home and berate me and tell me I’m so misinformed? It was so insulting,” Elson continued.
The Coloradoan reported that voters who signed the petition to recall Morse have received similar phone calls.
However, so far it appears that the attempts to get voters to change
their minds have not been successful. Andrew Cole, a spokesman for
Gessler’s office, said that to date no one has come forward requesting
his or her name be removed from a recall petition.
Being unsuccessful in preventing enough voters from signing the
recall petition and getting them to change their mind, Giron is now
claiming the reason she is being targeted for recall is because of
racism.
“I know it’s partially about me being a Latina and being in this position of authority,” Giron said.
Head says the claims of racism are simply par for the course for liberal groups.
“It’s just ridiculous, when all else fails they play the race card.
Anybody that’s ever been here in Pueblo knows this not the case,” Head
said. “There’s lots of Hispanics here, I’m part Hispanic. If anybody
would take the time to read the other two names on the petition
committee to recall Giron they would see that besides myself, my brother
as well as my friend Ernest Mascarenas are all Hispanic.”
While Democrats have tried to say recall signature gatherers are criminals, it appears to be a case of projection.
MediaTrackers reported a volunteer for Pueblo United For Angela was
arrested while canvassing a neighborhood on a failure-to-appear warrant,
which it claims could be related to a domestic violence charge. The
volunteer, Elric Franco, was going door to door asking residents who
signed the recall to rescind their signatures.
Franco was reportedly talking to a homeowner who had not signed the
petition and was mistakenly trying to get him to remove his name. When
the homeowner asked Franco why he was on his property, he allegedly
said, “It’s none of your business, you are not on the list, don’t worry
about it,” before telling the homeowner to go back inside his house.
After feeling threatened, the homeowner called police, but before
officers arrived, Franco’s campaign coordinator arrived and began taking
pictures of neighbors and the homeowner. She allegedly returned later
with three men who were described as “thugs” who drove by while filming
houses pointed out by the coordinator. They also reportedly took down
license plate numbers of vehicles in the neighborhood.
After responding to challenges by Giron and Morse, Gessler’s office
sent a statement of sufficiency to Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper,
who under Colorado law must “without delay” set an election date between
30 and 60 days from now, which would place the election in August or
September.
On Tuesday, attorneys for Morse and Giron went to court arguing that
voters did not realize what they were signing, claiming among other
things that the wording was not sufficiently clear because voters were
asked if Morse and Giron should be recalled but never told voters an
election would have to be held to do so.
“A petition form must inform unsophisticated as well as sophisticated
voters who are considering whether or not to sign the petition,”
Democrat lawyer Mark Grusekin argued in his appeal of Gessler’s
decision.
Head said he believes the effort to portray Pueblo voters as ignorant and stupid will backfire on Giron.
The legislative debate over the gun control laws drew interesting comments from majority Democrats.
State Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster, scolded a witness opposing one of the gun restrictions.
Amanda Collins, 27, of Reno, Nev., told her story of being assaulted
and explained that had she been carrying a concealed weapon, the
incident might have ended differently.
“I just want to say that, actually statistics are not on your side
even if you had a gun,” Hudak scolded. “And, chances are that if you
would have had a gun, then he would have been able to get that from you
and possibly use it against you.”
Hudak continued, speaking over the committee witness, “The Colorado
Coalition Against Gun Violence says that every one woman who used a
handgun in self-defense, 83 here are killed by them.”
Finally able to resume her testimony, Collins said, “Senator, you
weren’t there. I know without a doubt [the outcome would have been
different with a gun].
“He already had a weapon,” she told the meeting of the Senate State,
Veterans and Military Affairs Committee. “He didn’t need mine.”
A similar attitude was displayed by state Rep. Joe Salazar.
He said that a woman who feels threatened by rape on a college campus
doesn’t need to be armed, because she can use a call box to get help.
Salazar’s statement came in a debate over a proposal to ban citizens
possessing a concealed-carry permit from being armed on university
campuses.
“It’s why we have call boxes,” said Salazar, “It’s why we have safe
zones, it’s why we have the whistles. Because you just don’t know who
you’re gonna be shooting at.
“And you don’t know if you feel like you’re gonna be raped, or if you
feel like someone’s been following you around, or if you feel like
you’re in trouble when you may actually not be, that you pop out that
gun and you pop … pop a round at somebody.”
Perhaps the most surprising statement came from U.S. Rep. Diane
DeGette, a Denver Democrat who displayed her perspective on gun
magazines.
“I will tell you these are ammunition, they’re bullets, so the people
who have those now they’re going to shoot them; so if you ban them in
the future, the number of these high capacity magazines is going to
decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot,
and there won’t be any more available,” she said.
The Denver Post said DeGette didn’t appear to understand that a firearm magazine can be reloaded with more bullets.
Additionally, the gun control issue in Colorado has been featured on
major media outlets after a majority of the state’s sheriffs have said
that not only will they not enforce the new laws, but that they are
actually suing the state over them.
“We have said these laws are unconstitutional and if we truly believe
what we are saying then we need to put our money where our mouth is, so
to speak,” Weld County Sheriff John Cooke said. “These laws are an
infringement on people’s Second Amendment rights and we need to
represent and stand up for the citizens who voted us into office.”
State officials admitted they were doing the bidding of the White
House. In February, Vice President Joe Biden flew to the state to
strong-arm Democratic lawmakers who were feeling pressure from their
constituents to vote against the bills.
“He (Biden) said it would send a strong message to the rest of the
country that a Western state had passed gun-control bills,” Tony Exhum, a
Democratic lawmaker from Colorado Springs, told the Denver Post.
House Majority Leader Mark Ferrandino, an open homosexual who also
pursued a “civil unions” agenda this year, admitted the gun-control
bills introduced by fellow Democrats had national implications.
“I was shocked that he called. He said he thought the bills could help them on a national level,” Ferrandino said.
