Last year, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper supported and signed legislation that banned the sale or transfer of ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds. Recently, Hickenlooper addressed a meeting of the state’s Sheriffs, who opposed the bill and refuse to enforce it. The Governor told the group that he only signed the bill because an [unnamed] staffer promised that he would, and that he never spoke to civilian disarmament champion New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg about the bill. The latter was a lie. The former, a “misstatement.” In an interview with kdvr.com, Hickenlooper broke his silence on Friday to “clarify” his remarks . . .
In his first interview on the subject, Hickenlooper told FOX31 Denver that he wasn’t aware he was being filmed last Friday during a meeting with the sheriffs in Aspen when he appeared to backpedal on the magazine ban, agreeing with one sheriff that it was unenforceable and telling the group that he didn’t expect the legislation to even make it to his desk.
The remarks, he said Friday, were an effort to apologize to sheriffs who felt their voices weren’t heard during last year’s legislative process, not a disavowal of the magazine ban itself.
“I didn’t say it’s unenforceable, I said it’s difficult to enforce,” Hickenlooper said. “A lot of laws are difficult to enforce; that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be there. If we went through the process again, I’d sign it again.” . . .
“I talked to Bloomberg, but it was after we already made the decision,” Hickenlooper said Friday. “He didn’t call and lobby me or have any influence on the decision I made about the bill. That’s what I was trying to get across.” . . .
On Friday, he acknowledged that he wasn’t hamstrung by a staffer’s promise but that he and staffers made the decision to sign the magazine ban and that any promises made by staffers were at his own direction.
And now, the truth . . .
“I didn’t know that this was public, that this was going to be recorded,” Hickenlooper said.
Weasel words from a pro-disarmament politician caught with his proverbial pants down. What else would you expect?