WASHINGTON (AP) — President Clinton on Wednesday commended a state ballot initiative to close what critics complain is a gun show loophole in Colorado — and then scolded Congress for failing to pass gun-safety legislation.
"Colorado voters can now do what Congress has failed to do: close a deadly loophole that allows criminals, juveniles and other restricted persons to buy guns at gun shows with no questions asked," Clinton said. "Congress should heed the voices of millions of Americans concerned about gun violence — not those of the gun lobby — and follow the lead of states like Colorado."
A group called SAFE Colorado, which was formed after the Columbine High School shootings, has submitted nearly double the required number of voter signatures to place the measure on the November ballot. The group, which needed 62,438 valid signatures of registered voters to gain a spot on the ballot, submitted about 110,000 signatures on Wednesday to the secretary of state's office in Denver.
The group wants to close a perceived shortcoming in state law that members said helped the Columbine shooters obtain three of the four firearms they used to kill 13 people and then themselves on April 20, 1999. Daniel Mauser, son of SAFE's director of political affairs, Tom Mauser, died in the shootings.
The initiative would require state-run criminal background checks of people trying to buy firearms from any seller at gun shows. Under existing law, only people trying to buy firearms from federally licensed dealers must submit to a background check.