Concealed Carry Reciprocity Legislation Would Undermine State Gun Laws, Allow People With Dangerous Histories and No Training to Carry Hidden, Loaded Handguns Across Colorado and the Country
DENVER – Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund today announced the launch of a six-figure radio advertising campaign criticizing Rep. Mike Coffman for his vote for H.R. 38, the “Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017,” in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. Concealed carry reciprocity is the National Rifle Association’s top legislative priority. Its primary effect would be to eviscerate state gun laws, making it easy for people with dangerous histories and no training to carry hidden, loaded guns in public across the country. It would gut Colorado’s common-sense gun laws and make Colorado communities less safe.
“For too long, politicians could do the gun lobby’s bidding without having to answer to their constituents,” said Lynn Barta, a volunteer with the Colorado chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “Those days are over. Rep. Coffman is going to learn that Sixth District voters have long memories, and we’ll remember where he stood when we needed him to stand up for the safety of our families.”
The new radio ad features Theresa Hoover, whose son, AJ Boik, was killed in the Aurora movie theater mass shooting.
“You were elected to represent me and our community, forever changed by that horrific act of gun violence, yet you voted to eviscerate Colorado’s gun laws, making it easy for people with dangerous histories, no permit and no training to carry hidden, loaded guns in our communities,” Theresa Hoover says in the ad. “Your response to gun violence is voting with the gun lobby to weaken public safety laws? My family will never forget what happened in the Aurora Theater shooting. Have you forgotten?”
The radio campaign follows an announcement by Everytown, reiterated in a letter to House offices earlier this week, that it would be scoring members’ positions on Concealed Carry Reciprocity as a key vote. On Tuesday, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund announced a major paid media plan urging Rep. Coffman and several other members of Congress to oppose CCR, including a full-page newspaper ad in the Denver Post with a letter from Colorado resident Jane Dougherty, whose sister, Mary Sherlach, was the brave school psychologist murdered trying to save her students at Sandy Hook School.
More about concealed carry reciprocity:
Right now, every state sets its own standards for who can carry a hidden, loaded handgun in public, and Colorado’s standards include obtaining a permit and completing safety training. But concealed carry reciprocity legislation would force each state to recognize the concealed carry standards of every other state, including those states that have dramatically weaker standards, or no standards at all.
More information about concealed carry reciprocity is available here, and Everytown has also created an interactive map that allows users to compare key standards across states.