GOP congressman gets booed as town hall talk turns to guns
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, COLO. — Grumbling and jeers met the request for a moment of silence for the 17 people killed last week in the Florida school shooting.
“Let’s do something for them!” one man yelled at the beginning of Republican Rep. Mike Coffman’s town hall Tuesday night. Another participant cried out, “We’re done with thoughts and prayers!”
Coffman’s swing district in the Denver suburbs is all too familiar with mass shootings. A few miles to the northeast of the high school that hosted Tuesday’s town hall is the location of the Aurora theater massacre, where 13 people were shot to death in 2012. A few miles to the south- west of the town hall site, just across the district line, is Columbine High School, the site of the 1999 school shooting that killed 12.
In a district that voted for Democrats Barack Obama in 2012 and Hillary Clinton in 2016, Coffman has been a perennial political target for Democrats. He is in his fifth term, but Democrats have not made gun control a cen- terpiece of their campaigns for votes though the electorate is evenly split between Democrats, Republicans and those unaffiliated.
That could change this year. The raw emotions at Coffman’s town hall shows how guns have become a volatile issue in an already hyper-charged midterm elec- tion, stoking passions that will be difficult for Democrats to contain, and difficult for embattled Republicans like Coffman to defend against.
Patti Seno, 53, broke into tears as she recounted how her husband, a firefighter, was on the scene of the Columbine shooting and an attack at a nearby school in 2013 that killed one stu“The West is different,” dent. Her son had planned said Josh Penry, a veteran to see a midnight showing GOP strategist and Coffman of the new Batman movie adviser. “There’s this basic the night that the gunman understanding that Congress attacked the audience in passing a lot of laws isn’t Aurora. Yet, she told Coff- going to stop evil people from man, she hadn’t spoken out committing evil acts.” until watching students from Sharp questions about Marjory Stoneman Douglas guns dominated the hourHigh in Parkland, Fla., camlong town hall. Coffman said paign for new gun laws. he was willing to discuss “rea
“I am ashamed, as it took sonable restrictions within children to shake me from my the parameters of the Seccomfort zone to come forward ond Amendment,” a stateto say enough is enough,” said ment that drew fierce boos Seno, a Democrat. “An avafrom the crowd. He repeatlanche is coming to Washing- edly declined to back an ton, sir, and it is going to be assault-weapons ban but led by our children.” said he’d consider “red flag”
Coffman has received laws that would allow the $34,000 in contributions temporary confiscation of from the National Rifle Asso- firearms from those judged ciation, more than any other to be a threat to themselves Colorado member of Conor others. gress. Gun control activists, He spent much of his time sometimes accompanied by defending some of his previfamily members of those ous votes, including for a bill killed in Aurora, have pushed last year to require states to him for years to back more accept concealed-carry perrestrictions. mits from other, less-regu
Yet even after the Aurora lated states and another for shooting in 2012, Democrats a bill rolling back an Obama did not mention gun control administration rule confiscatin their campaign against ing guns from people judged Coffman. It barely came up in not competent enough to 2014, either, after two Dem- manage their Social Secuocratic state legislators were rity benefits. Coffman conrecalled for passing new state tended it was a civil rights gun restrictions. issue.