Colorado Democrat thinks he can run for gun control — and win

This Colorado Democrat thinks he can run on gun control — and win

Colorado’s sixth congressional district became the site of the deadly 2012 Aurora shooting film and close to theatre on the tragedy of Columbine in 1999. Now, the sixth presented by the Republican representative Mike Coffman, but the candidate of the Democratic house thinks he can beat Coffman in November by running a campaign to stop armed violence.

Lawyer and army veteran Jason crow still to win his primary on June 26, but he has the support of the Democratic campaign Committee of the Congress (DCCC) and the advocacy group gun control began with former Rep. Gabby Giffords.

Democrats already eyeing for 6 years and the area is on the DCCC “Red to blue” list to flip this year. Prices non-partisan political report cook area d+2, and Hillary Clinton won by 9 points in 2016. Even Coffman, the Republican candidate managed to hang on to his seat since he was elected nearly a decade ago.

Raven thinks he can beat Coffman aggressive campaigning on the issue, Democrats have not shied away from in the past: gun control.

“Now we come to the point where this constant stream of shootings in the country have affected people, where we think about it all the time,” Crow said in a recent interview. “Loud noises will happen in the crowd at public events, and instead of people thinking, maybe someone dropped something,’ people think about the gun.”

Raven quickly put his background as a hunter and his rich military experience, when he talks to voters who are skeptical about efforts at gun control.

“I said, ‘I grew up a hunter and I know firearms”, he said. “I will not return to this issue as someone who never used them and know nothing about them. I’m not trying to take away from law-abiding citizens ‘ gun rights’, and I’m not trying to take away the second amendment.”

The resulting Park, Florida, shooting in February, Coffman was some tense town hall with angry constituents on the issue of violence with a firearm. The crow seizing on this political wave.

His first ad, called “enough”, hit Coffman for taking money from the National Rifle Association, and said that his young children begin to participate in active shooter exercises in elementary school.

Crow told VOX that the proposed solution of the gun control that both sides can get behind. The list of measures to support it includes universal background checks, ban on military-style assault weapons, limits magazine, closing the gun show loophole, repealing the amendment of the wild, and the introduction of more checks on the mental health of people before to buy a weapon.

He hoped that this issue will resonate with voters, along with the rest of his platform, which includes economic inequality, affordable health care, and get money out of politics (Crow refused to accept corporate PAC money and has just announced $460,000 to carry on fundraising for its latest quarter, putting his total war chest over $1.2 million).

I told Raven about why he went into politics this year, why he decided to make a weapon such an important issue in his election campaign, and whether he thinks this issue is to translate national policy in 2018. (It is uncertain.)

Our conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Ella Nielsen

What do you see as the biggest problems in your area right now?

Jason Crowe

Economic inequality is a big issue in this community. We see how the cost of living and housing costs are skyrocketing. People work for the most part, we have very low unemployment, and wages and benefits really stagnant. We really need to solve the problem of economic inequality the middle class. The tax bill passed Mike Coffman and his colleagues in Congress is a step in the wrong direction.

In addition, we hear a lot about health care, the value of the award is growing, there are still too many families and people that are not covered here, and we just can’t let that happen. In 21st century America, everyone should have quality, affordable health care.

Armed violence is another matter. We have suffered greatly in this community in particular, not only some of the major mass murder in modern history, but a lot of street violence as well. I hear also, everywhere I go, young people, parents, and children who say: “we need somebody to do something about it, it’s a health crisis, there is no fear in our schools, there is fear on the streets of our cities, we want someone to lead.”

Mike Coffman refuses to do. He takes more money from the NRA than any other representative in the state, and even not to listen to voters on this issue. So I was standing; I am on this issue.

Ella Nielsen

I wanted you to dive a little deeper into these issues: gun violence. First of all, I would like to know why you decided to take it directly. Why did you decide to make this issue a Central campaign?

Jason Crowe

I took this early in my campaign to parkland shooting. I was one of the first candidates in the country to request and obtain the approval of the organization of Giffords. And here’s why: in the period from 1970 to the present time, there were more people killed by guns in this country than all the wars put together. And I believe that the mass alarming statistics.

When we have 33,000 people die from violence with use of firearms and our government is not even willing to study it and figure out a sound policy to address, a number, and not ready to do such simple things as the prohibition of a lump of reserves in a shooting in Las Vegas, or universal test, as we did in Colorado, it’s a failure of leadership of epic proportions, in my opinion. The community is calling for action, they call for leadership, and it’s something I’m very proud to stand up and say I’m not afraid to act on it, and I will try to work to solve it.

I came to this issue, I think, fairly unique perspective. I was raised and grew up a hunter. When I was 12, I hunted deer and ducks and rabbits. I went into the army, became a Ranger, so I know firearms. I used them in the war; I’ve had them used against me.

But at the same time, before I announced to the Congress and long after my political career will be over, I’m going to be an American. I want to be a member of this community, and I’m going to be a father. This is a problem that must be solved right now.

Ella Nielsen

You lived in the area during the Aurora shooting in 2012?

Jason Crowe

Yes. My wife and I were in Colorado for more than ten years, in fact the fourth generation … the children of the fifth generation. The shooting occurred just a few miles from our house. We were in the community when it happened.

Ella Nielsen

As this survey of the impact on the community? Have you noticed a change in attitude toward guns before and after the incident?

Jason Crowe

Why Columbine happened here, so we were raised very early in the current era of mass shootings. And of course, Aurora was not too many years ago. I feel like in the past year or so, we really have reached a critical point in this matter.

It’s now reached the point where this constant stream of shootings in the country have affected people, where we think about it all the time. Loud noises happen in the crowd at public events, and instead of people thinking, “maybe someone dropped something,” people think about the gun.

I hear from students that when they had a fire drill, the first thing that comes to mind is whether or not there is a mass shooting. I’ll talk to my parents about it when they drop their children to school in the morning. My wife and I one of those parents, when we drop our children to school, what goes through our minds.

We have reached a turning point in the country and the society, where it now affects our daily lives and our thoughts. I think that’s one of the reasons why there is a sense of urgency to the dialogue and why people are calling for action and we see a sustainable call to action on it.

Ella Nielsen

You said you grew up a hunter and obviously know a lot about weapons from his time in the army. When you speak with voters who own guns and are Pro-gun as you balance?

Jason Crowe

We have released policy proposals on this issue … some of the things that he wants is universal background checks, ban on military-style assault weapons, magazine restrictions, closing the gun show loophole, the decision “not to buy, do not buy,” turning wild the mend, and better checks and mental health reforms. These are the main points. You know, dealing with this issue, I think it is very important that, as with any complex issue, you do it from the cost point of view.

I talk to gun owners about my personal experience and say that I grew up a hunter and I know about firearms. I’m not going back to this issue as someone who never used them and know nothing about them. I’m not trying to take away from law-abiding citizens ‘ gun rights’, and I’m not trying to take away the second amendment.

What I’m trying to do is address the common sense policy solutions that can make our country and society safer, and I think that the vast majority of our community can get behind, and that I think can make a real difference. Just talking about it, which is good for people.

Ella Nielsen

What kind of problems you hear from people who are nervous about legislation for gun control? When you meet with voters, you hear again the same problems again and again?

Jason Crowe

I think some of these problems feed off the NRA talking points. The biggest is when people say, “this is only the beginning, it’s a slippery slope; you start with this, next thing you know you’ll take my guns”. I tell them that it is not our intention, that’s not what we’re going to do.

When this country was a public health crisis or a serious problem, we study it, we think about reasonable ways to do something about it, and we turn to him.

The death car is a great example. We do not take away cars, but when we had a very large number of car deaths in this country, we have studied the problem and decided to have some designer things done on the cars to make people’s lives safer. We can do it without infringing on the rights of the people, but to do it intelligently and consciously.

Ella Nielsen

I’m sure the gun issue is different in each area, and obviously your neighborhood has a history of armed violence. I’m curious what your thoughts about whether this will become a national political issue in 2018 and how this translates on a larger scale.

Jason Crowe

I honestly don’t know on the national scale. Maybe to what I said earlier, I think, in every district and every campaign is different, and I’m very local campaign. I run on the local issues that I hear on the ground here in the sixth congressional district that the people in this neighborhood don’t tell me what they want to happen. I fixated on it. I don’t think I can really tell what’s happening at the national level in other races.

Ella Nielsen

I was wondering if you thought single-payer — there are several bills floating around Congress about single-payer and public option. Have you thought about whether you want to support one of these bills, if he came?

Jason Crowe

I am a supporter of universal care. I think we’ll get public option, insert the option in the individual market and at the same time fixing the problems with BC and making sure that we consider the increase in insurance premiums and coverage and availability. I came out and said that at the beginning of his campaign and is getting great response with this.

Ella Nielsen

Yesterday I spoke with one of your employees about the district. The cook political report prices of d+2, so I think it’s a bit more of a swing district than, say, in Pennsylvania, the area where Conor lamb won. We heard a lot of hype about the potential blue wave in 2018, and I guess I wonder what you see from the point of view of democratic enthusiasm in your area.

Jason Crowe

I think it’s very high. I don’t feel like I’m one of those candidates that he thinks there’s going to be a massive blue wave that will wash us all into the office. I think each candidate should do his or her own wave and campaigns. This is the mentality we take here: we must win and we must defeat him on our own terms.

There are levels of enthusiasm that I’ve never seen in my life. We come for the community, where typically eight or nine guys coming. There are 30 or 40 persons; they appear with the notebooks and they are ready, they are ready to walk, they are ready to transfer his energy and enthusiasm in action.

And in local elections in the regions in November, Democrats swept most of the race, and in some cases in very deep parts of the district. So I think that there is energy and enthusiasm I haven’t seen, of course, in my life. Now the question is, how do we as candidates and campaigns to preserve and translate into direct action between now and November?

Correction: a previous version of this article said that Colorado’s sixth district includes Columbine, and Aurora. Columbine is now out of the area.

Sourse: vox.com

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