Coors is no fan of many gun laws
By Gwen Florio, Rocky Mountain News
September 2, 2004
Both Pete Coors and Ken Salazar hold themselves up as defenders of the Second Amendment - the right to bear arms.
If Coors, a former National Rifle Association poster boy, had his way, a lot more people would be able to bear a lot more arms.
Queried at the Republican National Convention about his stance against continuing the federal assault weapons ban, Coors responded that in Colorado, "we believe in the right to bear arms without restrictions."
The decade-old ban is to expire Sept. 14. President Bush has said he'll sign an extension if it reaches his desk.
Coors' spokeswoman, Cinamon Watson, said Wednesday that the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate "is not an advocate for further gun laws. However, he does support strong enforcement of the gun laws on the books."
Earlier this year, though, Coors spoke at a Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition meeting in support of the repeal of several of those laws.
In response to a question from the group's Steve Gresh, Coors said that the Brady Bill, which requires background checks for gun buyers, should also be repealed, along with federal firearms laws from 1934 and 1968 that impose a host of controls.
Under those laws, people can't own machine guns or sawed-off shotguns, nor can people convicted of serious crimes, juveniles, aliens or people dishonorably discharged from the military own guns.
In a questionnaire posted on the group's Web site, Coors also said he supported repealing the Lautenberg Amendment, which bars those convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors from owning guns; opposed any sort of firearms registration; and opposed limiting the number of guns a person can own.
Although the Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition can't formally endorse federal candidates, both Gresh, the group's secretary, and Harry Wellman, its treasurer, said Wednesday they personally support Coors.
Watson said Wednesday that "Pete stands by his positions. He's not flip-flopping on any issues."
However, she said, "in many cases, some of these laws that are 50 years old need to be retooled and reworked so they don't inhibit the rights of law-abiding citizens."
Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar, Coors' Democratic opponent in the Senate race, said he finds Coors' position "too extreme."
"When you talk about repealing bans on machine guns and sawed-off shotguns, it's not where the people of Colorado are and not where the people of the country are," he said.
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