I didn’t realize that one of last night’s losing lawmakers in Colorado actually argued that losing even one seat was sign enough that Mayors Against Illegal Guns should just wrap it up and go out of business. Alas, she did.
If you live in area with a tempting target for Mike Bloomberg, then this is a worthy quote to share with them from a lawmaker who was promised she would be taken care of by the billionaire. The billionaire didn’t deliver. Joe Biden called these lawmakers, and not even Obama could save them in blue districts in a blue state.
The original reporter who printed the bold remarks by Sen. Giron is already in spin mode. While he said in his original article that the Bloomberg was taking the issue as seriously as Giron framed it, today’s message is that gun control voters have better things to do, like attend back to school nights for their kids. The implication, I guess, is that gun owners don’t have kids who they love enough to be involved in their education.
Let’s not celebrate too long here. There is still much more work to be done and this is a small victory on the path to winning the battle.
I never said that I believed MAIG would fold it up and go home. I agree with the fact that this is just one step. That’s why I just put up a post asking people what they are going to focus on locally.
And I never said you did. While we’re drinking and celebrating they are planning their next move – even if that mean dancing on the graves of kids. They’re not resting this morning. It’s very easy to celebrate a victory too long and miss the opponents regrouping and refining.
Sure, the people of CO beat a lot of out of town money. They were outspent 10-1. Now it’s time to group up and take that same fight to state houses all over the country. If it means another recall, so be it. I think the people of CO are in a very good position to push a repeal bill under threat of more recalls. I bet that the repeal vote would be successful.
I think repealing the laws will be an uphill battle not undertaken unless the Republicans win next year. The fact is that you’d have to convince the Democratically-controlled Senate to repeal, the Democratically-controlled House (with the same number of votes to pass the legislation as they had before the recall), and the Democratic Governor who signed the bills. I don’t think that’s likely.
You really need to do a post on how MAIG is spinning it. Look at the Bizweek article (from the tequila post) and this one from Daily Beast.
Mark Glaze, the Executive Director of MAIG, viewed the election results through a rose-colored lens. He thought the group’s efforts in Colorado to pass gun control laws and then aid legislators facing recall had been a “net positive.†After all, he pointed that out that Colorado’s gun control laws would still be in effect and that they had managed to ward off attempts to recall several other legislatures. To him, it was more important that his group had planted its flag in these races. “The NRA has owned this issue for these kinds of contests†in the past, he said. Now, with the involvement of his group “elected officials that take risks to keep the public safe will have all the support that they ask for.â€
Goal post and spin are a part of their job, but note that now it’s gotten to “Well at least some didn’t end up on the recall ballot they didn’t get recalled.”
And they’re claiming victory that the law did not get repealed… in a recall election. Oh-kay.
“elected officials that take risks to keep the public safe will have all the support that they ask for.â€
It’s a risk? But I thought 90% of people love gun control?
And nice to see the exposure of the mercenary nature of “Do our bidding and we’ll give you money.” Course methinks they wanted more support than what they got.
Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.
I’ve done my time in DC as what some might call a “spin doctor.” I even have some astroturf experience. (I wasn’t really cut out for it, to be honest. It’s more fun flacking for the private sector.
What I will say is that the DC mindset (NRA/MAIG included here) is such that the thought of an actual, true grass routes movement is foreign to them, so OBVIOUSLY the answer is more money.
And let’s be honest here, the NRA was a late comer to the party. Yes, their money was important and they should bask in the kudos, but this movement was started on the ground.
The NRA’s bafflement with actual grassroots activism is something we’ve butted heads with here in PA: Our assigned ILA rep is the sort who seems to prefer making backroom deals with the Philly crowd rather than working with the grassroots boots-on-the-ground.
On the whole, he seems to have done little in the way of lobbying in PA since the debacle in 2010 where he was almost solely responsible for the torpedoing of the stand-your-ground bill that we had been pushing for six years at that point.
The implication, I guess, is that gun owners don’t have kids who they love enough to be involved in their education.
Of course. We hate children.
Sen. Morse is proud of his accomplishments and has said that if they cost him his job then it’s still worth it. He has the mindset of a suicide bomber and shares it with other libs.
Rather than trying for repeal of the gun laws we would be much better served by either repealing or severely amending the Institutionalized Vote Fraud Act of 2013 (HR1303) which Morse was instrumental is shoving through before the next election lest both recalled senators get themselves re-elected in ’14.
Here is the letter that MAIG sent out today… can you say “denial”?
Please take a minute to watch and share this video.
If you haven’t been following the Colorado recall election, here’s some background.
Last year, Colorado legislators passed a bill requiring comprehensive background checks on all gun sales and some other common sense measures that will save lives. This legislation was supported by a majority of Coloradans, and the legislators who passed it were leading the way on crucial issues of public safety. Since the laws passed, two dozen prohibited purchasers were blocked — and as Coloradans know too well, it only takes one to shatter a life, a family, a community.
But the NRA and the national gun lobby launched a well-funded retribution campaign against Colorado State Senators Angela Giron and John Morse, counting on low voter turnout to recall these brave leaders from their elected positions. This is unprecedented in Colorado, where recalls have only been used to address misconduct by elected officials. But that didn’t stop the gun lobby in their cynical effort to punish these senators.
The fact is, Colorado and America are both safer today because of the leadership demonstrated by Senators Morse, Giron and the other Colorado lawmakers who supported these bills, which are still on the books. A recent poll1 shows that Colorado voters overwhelmingly support these background check laws — and a majority of voters in Colorado opposed the recall.
See what this election means for Colorado and our whole country:
http://www.demandaction.org/colorado-recalls
Yesterday was an important day for our movement, and we’ll hear a lot about what this means for Colorado and beyond.
But one thing is undeniable: there is a sea change underway in this country, and the tide is turning in favor of better public safety laws. We will continue to fight for sensible measures to reduce gun violence and stand firmly behind elected officials who are devoted to saving the lives of innocent Americans.
Thank you for watching and spreading the word,
Mark Glaze
Mayors Against Illegal Guns
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1. “Colorado Voters Oppose Recall Effort By Wide Margin, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds,” Quinnipiac University, August 22nd, 2013.
Now that we set them back on their heels, are they planning the next Columbine or Aurora? (Yes, planning. I will put nothing beyond these fiends.)
I think that’s insane, personally. Unless you mean they are planning their next PR response to a shooting. In that case, we already know that from the PR publication they made for other anti-gun groups.