Giffords Endorses Slate of Gun Safety Champions in Colorado

Washington DC — Today, Giffords PAC, the gun safety organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, announced its endorsement of 12 state legislators running for reelection or higher office in Colorado.

“Unfortunately, Coloradans know the horrors of gun violence all too well. However, thanks to the courage of legislative leaders in Denver, there has been meaningful action in response to recent tragedies. They have enacted laws to establish extreme risk protection orders, allowed localities to pass gun safety laws, restricted guns at voting locations, and more. There is so much work that remains to be done to protect Colorado communities and keep families safe. Reelecting these leaders will help to make sure a safer future is within reach for communities across the state. Giffords PAC is proud to endorse this slate of champions today.”

• Representative Tony Exum (SD-11): State Representative Tony Exum serves the communities of 17th District in the Colorado House. First elected in 2012, he is a retired Battalion Fire Chief for Colorado Springs, a volunteer basketball coach, and a community advocate. Throughout his career in public service, Representative Exum has continuously prioritized the safety of Coloradoans and voted in favor of legislation designed to keep his constituents safe—including a bill to implement extreme risk protection order laws that temporarily prevent individuals in crisis from accessing firearms. If elected to the Senate, Representative Exum will always continue to fight for commonsense gun violence prevention measures to ensure the well-being of the communities he serves. 

• Representative Tom Sullivan (SD-27): State Representative Tom Sullivan isan Air Force veteran and retiredpostal worker of almost 30 years. In 2012, Representative Sullivan was getting ready to retire when his son Alex was murdered alongside 12 others at a movie theater in Aurora. After growing frustrated with the lack of progress legislators had made on gun violence prevention efforts in Denver, Representative Sullivan decided to run for office himself and was elected to represent the 37th District in 2018. In office, he has helped to pass Colorado’s first extreme risk protection order law. Doing so meant facing a recall challenge from the gun lobby, which would eventually fall flat—making him the first person in Colorado history to defeat a recall election. Since then, Representative Sullivan has continued to lead the fight against gun violence, opening Colorado’s first Office of Gun Violence Prevention and passing laws to ensure firearms are kept out of polling places and are being reported when lost or stolen. 

• Representative Judy Amabile (HD-49): State Representative Judy Amabile was first elected to the Colorado Assembly in 2020 representing House District 13. She is a mother, business person, community activist, environmentalist, and legislator, and has sponsored successful measures concerning access to mental health care, fire insurance reforms, gun safety reforms, and criminal justice reforms, among other issues. Rep. Amabile is currently running for reelection in the newly created House District 49. During her time in office she’s been an ally to the gun violence prevention movement, supporting legislation on the safe storage of firearms, required reporting of a lost or stolen firearm, prohibiting openly carrying firearms in a polling location, and more. 

• Representative Jennifer Bacon (HD-07): State Representative Jennifer Bacon recognized from an early age that she had a duty to fight for the success of disenfranchised communities, and she’s been doing just that since her election to represent House District 7 in 2020. Representative Bacon has sought to educate in the classroom, build power with students and families as a lawyer and community organizer, and partner with neighbors as a school board member. She’s also worked to address gun violence by leading efforts to establish the state’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention after the 2021 mass shooting in Boulder.

• Representative Lindsey Daugherty (HD-24): State Representative Lindsey Daugherty has always had a passion for activism and social justice. Today, she’s an attorney specializing in juvenile and family law and the state representative for Colorado’s 29th House District. In office, Representative Daugherty has sponsored legislation to broaden the state’s gun violence related priorites to focus on suicide and suicide attempts, as well as the aftereffects of those actions on others. She also played a crucial role in enacting legislation to give power back to local governments to pass their own firearm regulations.

• Representative Monica Duran(HD-23): State Representative Monica Duran is the House majority co-whip and has been a member of the Colorado General Assembly since 2018. Prior to entering public service, Representative Duran worked in the dental industry for over three decades. Her mother is a first-generation Mexican American, who as a migrant farm worker fought for better working conditions, the right to unionize, and fair wages—providing Representative Duran with a thorough understanding of how to fight against injustice. As the daughter of a veteran, she also understands the immense power of firearms and the deadly impacts of gun violence. In 2020, Rep. Duran introduced two gun violence prevention bills: one to enforce the safe storage of firearms and a second to close the boyfriend loophole and relinquish firearms from those with protection orders. 

• Representative Meg Froelich(HD-03): State Representative Meg Froelich’s lifetime in public service has taught her how to fight for the people. She previously served for two terms as a member of the Greenwood Village City Council and worked in the nonprofit sector as the executive director of the Colorado Institute for Leadership Training. Representative Froelich gained a thorough understanding of Colorado’s political landscape as as director of the Colorado chapter of NARAL Pro-Choice America and as a member of the leadership team of the Colorado Democratic Party. Last session she was a sponsor of the Vote Without Fear Act, prohibiting open carry of firearms at polling locations. If reelected to the Colorado House of Representatives, she will continue to support gun safety measures in office—where she has been an outspoken leader in the movement to save lives.

• Representative Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez (HD-04): State Representative Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez is a third-generation North Denver resident. She has worked in the child welfare and juvenile justice fields for the last 19 years in the city and county of Denver. Elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 2018, she was recently chosen to serve as the assistant majority leader in the House – where she also sits on the Public Health and Human Services committees. Outside of her work in the legislature, she works with youth and families involved in the juvenile justice system, where she has witnessed a steady increase in weapons and handgun-related charges amongst Denver youth. She also works closely with violence interrupters to address the issue of gun violence in the Denver community.

• Representative Leslie Herod (HD-08): Representative Leslie Herod made history with her election in 2016, when she became the first Black LGBTQ person in the Colorado General Assembly. Since then, she has passed over 150 bills during her time in office—many of which have directly addressed gun violence prevention, criminal justice reform, mental health, addiction, youth homelessness, business and the arts, and civil rights protections. In Denver, Representative Herod serves as Chair of the House Appropriations Committee and is a member of the powerful Joint Budget Committee, both of which play an important role in ensuring that gun safety legislation comes before the full legislature for votes.

• Representative Chris Kennedy (HD-23): State Representative Chris Kennedy is a third-term state representative who currently serves as chair of the State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee. In this capacity, he has convened numerous hearings for gun safety bills, including 2019’s extreme risk protection order bill, and as a member of the Health and Insurance Committee, his priority has always been to make sure every hard-working Coloradan has the opportunity to thrive. After his cousin survived the shooting at Columbine in 1999, Representative Kennedy has always been an avid supporter of gun violence prevention efforts. 

• Representative David Ortiz(HD-38): State Representative David Ortizis a community advocate and public servant whose life’s vocation is service to others. Following a crash in Afghanistan that left him paralyzed from the waist down, Representative Ortiz returned home and made it his mission to continue serving his community. In office, he’s been an advocate for suicide prevention, particularly among veterans, and has supported various pieces of legislation that would take guns out the hands of those who commit domestic abuse, ban open-carry weapons within 100 feet of a ballot box, require safe storage of firearms, expand background check requirements, and create an Office of Gun Violence Prevention in Colorado.

• Representative Steven Woodrow (HD-06): Before entering public office, State Representative Steven Woodrow worked as a litigator, where he tried and arbitrated a range of consumer protection matters. In addition to maintaining his consumer practice, Representative Woodrow now serves on the Judiciary and State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committees. While in office, he has been the primary sponsor for HB 21-1298, which closes the “Charleston loophole” and expands background checks on gun sales to include violent misdemeanors. Representative Woodrow has dedicated his life to advocating for others and will continue to do so by supporting commonsense gun safety legislation if reelected to the Colorado House.

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