According to a new report by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Campaign, 21 states put tougher gun safety measures on the books this year. Unsurprisingly, one of the quickest states to act was the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado—the site of the Aurora and Columbine mass shootings—where Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper signed 3 gun safety bills into law in March. The raft of legislation tightened background checks on all gun sales and banned high capacity magazines.
But no good deed goes unpunished. Following the vote, Colorado Republicans launched the first recall effort in Colorado’s history, successfully unseating State Senate Majority Leader John Morse (D) and Sen. Angela Girone (D). The campaign was aided in no small part by a judge’s prohibition of mail-in ballots, which accounted for 88 percent of votes in the 2012 election months before.
The day before Thanksgiving, faced with yet another recall that could have handed the state’s gun laws to Republicans, Colorado State Senator Evie Hudak resigned from her seat. By resigning, Hudak ensured that the states’ gun safety measures that she championed will be allowed to stand.
Watch NOW Host Alex Wagner discuss Hudak’s principled stand.
Jeremy Slevin