Colorado mothers hold sit-in to demand ban on all guns in violation of constitutions
Thousands of women, many who are moms, gathered at the Colorado State Capital for an anti-gun event on Monday.
The group, "Here 4 The Kids," wants Gov. Jared Polis to sign an executive order banning guns altogether, including law enforcement and the national guard, even though they know it violates United States and Colorado constitutions. The crowd arrived just before 5 a.m.
"We are here for the kids. We are here to ban guns and we won't accept anything less," said Wolf Terry, Media Correspondent for Here 4 The Kids.
The organization also wants the governor to implement a gun buyback program. The group says this order would be in the memory of the children in Colorado who have lost their lives due to gun violence and prevent future gun violence deaths.
"I'd like to have Governor Polis sign the executive order to buy back guns immediately. We're not waiting for the legislators to do this we count on Governor Polis to do this," said Christina Alexiades.
Polis responded to the protest in a statement saying in part, "Staff has met with the organizers and have expressed concerns that the requests being made are either unconstitutional or require legislative action. The Governor takes the weighty responsibility of executive action and the trust Coloradans placed in him to govern responsibly seriously and will not issue an unconstitutional order that will be struck down in court simply to make a public relations statement -- he will continue to focus on real solutions to help make Colorado one of the ten safest states."
"These individuals' calls to improve safety and prevent gun violence through their specific requests for an executive order banning all guns would simply be unconstitutional."
The group held a 10 minute moment of silence at the top of every hour followed by reading off the names of kids that have died due to gun violence. They planned to be at the state capital until 8 p.m. before returning on Tuesday and there is a chance the group will come to the state capital through Thursday.
