Well, what do you know; Colorado voters really don’t want tougher gun laws, according to a Quinnipiac poll. At the same time, the majority of Coloradoans approve of the job that Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper is doing:
A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday shows Colorado voters oppose tougher gun control laws, especially among men and Republicans.The poll showed voters oppose such laws 56-39 percent, with a 80-18 percent opposition among Republicans. Independent voters oppose tougher laws by 59-35 percent while Democrats support tougher laws 76-19 percent.
According to the poll, men oppose tougher laws 69-27 percent, while women support them 51-44 percent.
The poll, completed as part of a swing state gauge that also included Iowa and Virginia, questioned 1,231 Colorado voters with a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.
The poll also found Colorado voters approve 51-40 percent of Gov. John Hickenlooper's work. The voters also approved of U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet by 41-34 percent approval rating though the poll showed voters say 40-32 percent that he does not deserve reelection in 2016.
In September 2013, Colorado was the site of the first real Second Amendment fight post-Newtown. In March of that year, Gov. Hickenlooper signed legislation to ban so-called high-capacity magazines and expand background checks. The latter of which is wholly unnecessary since all gun purchases at gun dealers with a federal firearms license must conduct one for all purchases. John Lott mentioned how sales conducted without background checks are within the single digits. It’s not 40 percent, which is a patently false statistic that was peddled without shame by the Obama administration.
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The new gun laws sparked recall elections for two pro-gun control state senators, Angela Giron and John Morse, who were booted from office thanks to a coalition of women, Hispanics, and blue-collar workers. The meltdown showed the impotence of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun groups, regarding having any impact on gun politics … anywhere. They’re still searching for relevance since they really haven’t done anything other than start incoherent petitions, and hound businesses to ban open carry in their establishments.
The post-recall meltdown was even more delicious. Giron tried to say that voter suppression was the reason she lost her recall election. Giron represented a heavily Democratic district.
This also explains why Bernie Herpin and George Rivera, the two Republicans who succeeded Giron and Morse in 2013, lost in 2014 since both of their senate districts were Democratic strongholds. So, anti-gunners, don't think that's a sign of anything relating to shifting sands on gun control. The Quinnipiac poll just proved that assumption wrong. Colorado Democrats also lost their majority in the State Senate that year as well.
In March of 2015, Colorado Republicans in the State Senate voted to repeal the high capacity magazine ban, with some Democratic support. Yet, it met a legislative death in the Democratic-controlled State House of Representatives.
*Special thanks to Aaron Gardner and Revealing Politics' Kelly Maher for their input with this post. Both are Colorado residents and active in politics.
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