When Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper intimated to CNN that there might be some correlation between gun ownership and concealed carry in Colorado Springs to the deadly attack on a Planned Parenthood facility there in late November, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms chastised him in a scathing statement to the press.
“And, in Colorado, we passed universal background checks,” Gov. Hickenlooper stated. “But, at the same time, in Colorado Springs, it’s one of the more conservative parts of the state. We probably have more people that have licenses for concealed weapons, probably more guns around. That didn’t help.”
CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb called the governor’s remarks “outrageous” and a blatantly false characterization of legally-armed private citizens who “had absolutely nothing to do with the incident.”
“This is just one more example of how an extremist anti-gunner exploits a tragedy to demonize gun owners and advance the agenda of public disarmament,” Gottlieb said. “It is beyond ridiculous for the governor to suggest that the rate of gun ownership and concealed carry by citizens in and around Colorado Springs had anything remotely to do with the attack.”
Following a standoff of several hours, police finally took the suspect, 57-year-old Robert Lewis Dear, into custody. He is alleged to have killed three people, including a police officer, and wounded several others in the rampage.
Regardless what Hickenlooper suggested, other Colorado residents don’t necessarily agree. The Los Angeles Times quoted Laura Carno, a Colorado conservative activist who helped recall one of the state lawmakers responsible for the gun control laws. She said the new laws “don’t make anyone safer.”
“These gun laws don’t keep guns out of the hands of criminals, because they’re criminals. … All they do is keep me from being able to buy the firearm of my choice,” she reportedly said.
