Gun rights advocates on Wednesday celebrated the unprecedented recall of two Colorado senators tossed out by voters for backing some of the nation’s strictest gun laws, saying their victory would scare off other politicians from voting to approve firearms restrictions. . . .
Tuesday’s election emerged as a referendum on gun policies, and political observers said the win by gun rights activists is a clear warning sign to moderate politicians in swing states to tread carefully.
“Although there are plenty of people who believe in strong gun control laws, it’s still politically dangerous to support more restrictions if you are in conservative or swing areas,” said Stuart Rothenberg of the independent Rothenberg Political Report. . . .
In Tuesday’s recall election, the first since the state adopted the procedure in 1912, Colorado Senate President John Morse lost his seat in a swing district in heavily Republican Colorado Springs by a scant 343 votes. Voters also tossed out Sen. Angela Giron, a first-term senator from a largely working-class district in Pueblo.
Both Democrats voted to expand background checks on private gun sales and impose limits on the size of ammunition magazines. Colorado passed the restrictions in March, within a year of the Newtown tragedy and a mass shooting in Aurora, Colo., that killed 12 in July 2012. . . .
In a statement, Bloomberg pledged to “continue to fight for sensible measures that reduce the scourge of gun violence.”
The election tested the political clout of a new crop of national groups, including one launched this year by former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who survived a gunshot wound to the head in 2011. Activists, liberal groups and others reported raising about $3 million to fight the recall, swamping the amount pro-recall efforts reported spending. (Under state law, the organizations active in the recall on both sides did not have to fully disclose the amounts they spent.)
Their financial advantage did not matter in the end.
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