Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Colorado lawmaker faces recall for backing gun control

Associated Press

DENVER – Gun-rights activists in Colorado turned in petition signatures Monday to set up the first recall in state history of a state lawmaker after he backed some of the strictest gun control measures to become law in the U.S. this year.

The opponents of Democratic Senate President John Morse said they turned in twice as many signatures as needed Monday to put Morse back on the ballot. Carting white paper boxes of petitions, the gun-rights advocates said Morse will pay for backing a series of gun control measures signed into law earlier this year.

“This is the race, right here, that’s going to show Washington and Chicago that when you come after our guns, we’re going to take you out,” said Bill Adaska, a Denver resident who volunteered to gather recall signatures in Morse’s Colorado Springs district.

Adaska is referring to a gun-control package that made Colorado the first state outside the East Coast to significantly ratchet back gun rights after last year’s mass shootings in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Mass. The Colorado package included expanded background checks to include private and online gun sales, plus a 15-round limit on most types of ammunition magazines.

A defiant Morse responded Monday to the recall petition by insisting he won’t resign and that national gun groups have targeted him in an effort to scare politicians nationwide away from addressing gun control.