New State Senator in the Columbine area is a gun extremist
He was endorsed by an extremist gun group
I am very saddened to report that, just seven years after the Columbine tragedy, Columbine's new State Senator, Republican Mike Kopp, is a gun extremist. He distributed a campaign letter saying he 'opposes gun control--period.' He opposes background checks and thinks anyone should be able to carry a concealed weapon without any type of permit. These are not mainstream beliefs. They are extremist views. 75% of the voters in this county voted in 2000 in favor of Amendment 22, closing the gun show loophole. But Kopp didn't support it.
Kopp was endorsed and aided in the primary election by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. RMGO is a far right wing gun rights group that considers the NRA to be far too weak. On their website they say they’re the “no compromise,” “don’t give an inch” gun rights organization and that the right to bear arms is a “God given right.” The RMGO didn't give an unwanted endorsement--Kopp asked for it and had to agree with the RMGO's radical platform 100%.
- This is a group whose members have insulted and harassed me for my support of gun control. Ray Hickman, northern Colorado coordinator of RMGO, told me I should "get a life and stop being the whore of SAFE Colorado ." (SAFE Colorado is the group that sponsored Amendment 22 in 2000.)
- This is a group that last year sponsored a wild shooting and drinking fest with high powered weapons.
- This is a group that even opposed Project Exile, an NRA-sponsored program run by federal prosecutors to get tough on felons who possess firearms
I asked Kopp directly whether he agreed with the RMGO leader Hickman's characterization of me as 'the whore of Safe Colorado" and whether he has any problem being supported by a group that uses such characterizations. He responded by writing, “ I believe in defending the bill of rights including the 2nd amendment." More recently he said he doesn't support the tactics of those who harrass me, but he stopped short of saying he condemned them.
I don’t expect Columbine area candidates to agree with me on all gun issues. But I'd think they would be more sensitive than to welcome the support of an extremist gun rights group. I don’t like the way that political candidates get demonized in the political process in this country. No wonder we hold politicians in such low regard. I don't feel I'm demonizing Mr. Kopp--I'm simply pointing out the facts and calling attention to his extremism, lack of responsiveness to my questions, and his insensitivity to the extent that firearms played a major role in the tragedy that happened in this community.
So how did Kopp get elected? The Coluimbine district is overwhelmingly Republican. Candidates here typically win by a margin of 15% or 20%. But not Kopp--he won by a narrow margin of 53% to 47%.
I went door to door in a few precincts in Columbine neighborhoods to encourage people to vote for Kopp’s opponent, Paula Noonan. Most were welcoming, while some were rather rude. One man, Al Arrowood, at a.arrowood@att.net, wrote to me, saying that I "wasted no time in politicizing your son's death. As a father and grandfather, I find that morally reprehensible. Your son needed a better father...Have you no decency?" I've grown used to such insults. It's what you get from extremists.
