Thread by @shannonrwatts

Colorado used to be an @NRA stronghold. Today, it's @MomsDemand country. How did we get here? The unglamorous, heavy lifting of grassroots activism.

A thread... #coleg

https://twitter.com/FerrellZabala/status/1651994849258635264

Let's go back to 2013. After then-Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper passed sweeping gun safety laws in the wake of the Aurora mass shooting tragedy, the NRA worked to recall two state lawmakers to send a signal to other lawmakers - everywhere - considering something similar.

Due to divided general assembly, we didn't make headway for nearly SEVEN years. But in 2018, after @MomsDemand volunteers helped elect gun sense champions (including survivor @Sully_720) the 64th Colorado session was the first to be controlled by Dems in 40 years.

In 2019, this new majority enacted an extreme risk law, introduced by @Sully_720. And @MomsDemand volunteers kept showing up to show our lawmakers that if they did the right thing, we’d have their back; if they did the wrong thing, we’d have their jobs.

https://twitter.com/shannonrwatts/status/1111412093528375296?s=20

And in addition to the new gun safety laws passed since 2019, it took just 17 days (after years of protests of police forces’ treatment of Black communities) for the Police Integrity Transparency and Accountability Act to become state law in Colorado.

https://twitter.com/shannonrwatts/status/1268690809416609792?s=20

And then in 2021, Gov Polis signed six gun bills into law, making Colorado the first state to reverse its preemption law so that local governments could make gun regulations different from state laws.

https://twitter.com/abbeywinter1/status/1406307171311054850?s=20

Other laws passed in 2021 included secure storage, the reporting of lost or stolen firearms, making it harder for domestic abusers to access guns, strengthening background checks, and the creation of an Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

Over the past decade, survivors and @MomsDemand and @StudentsDemand volunteers have fought tirelessly to keep their communities safe. Thanks to their dedication and support from gun sense lawmakers, states are passing gun safety measures into law and making lifesaving progress.