'I don't support gun control': GOP senator goes all-in for guns days after mass shooting

In the aftermath of two horrific mass shootings, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) made it abundantly clear that he will not support any gun safety legislation aimed at preventing another mass shooting.

Gardner has “no desire to implement gun-control measures to curb the violence,” the Vail Daily reported after Gardner gave remarks Monday in Aspen. The reporting was based on the very words Gardner spoke.

“I don’t support gun control,” Gardner said, just days after gunmen in El Paso and Dayton used assault rifles to kill more than 30 people over the weekend. Gardner refused to voice support for even the most commonsense, popular gun safety measures, such as universal background checks on all people who want to purchase guns.

Gardner’s radical position is far outside the mainstream, especially in a state like Colorado, which has been electing more and more progressive politicians in the past few years. A recent poll by Giffords, a pro-gun safety organization, shows that an overwhelming majority of Coloradans support a variety of gun safety measures. Further, Gardner represents a state home to two of the most devastating mass shootings in the U.S.: Columbine High School in 1999, and a 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora. A total of 25 people died from those shootings.

Gardner, who is up for reelection in 2020, is already considered the most vulnerable Republican in the nation, and that was before he staked out a position on guns at odds with most of the people he represents.

A bill to require background checks passed the House of Representatives in February, and is opposed by the NRA. Also, the NRA has spent more than $3.8 million helping Gardner’s campaign efforts, and the group gives him an A rating.

At the event in Aspen, Gardner did claim to oppose white supremacy, which is reported to be the motivating factor behind the shooting in El Paso. In that case, the shooter left behind writings that mirrored the same racist rhetoric Trump has used, including referring to Hispanic people in America as an “invasion.”

“The white supremacy voices should be condemned each and every time they raise their heads and their ugliness,” Gardner said, according to the Vail Daily. But when an audience member pressed him on his embrace of Trump, who uses the same white supremacist language, Gardner steadfastly refused to condemn Trump.

“What are you doing to stand up to the leader of your party that spews racism and despite his denials, supports white nationalism?” one audience member asked.

“White supremacy has no room in this country,” Gardner responded.

“What are you doing about your president?” the same person asked.

“I am going to continue to condemn the white supremacy at every chance and every opportunity I get,” Gardner responded.

Gardner’s way of “condemning white supremacy” was to give his full endorsement to Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign.

Contrary to his words in Aspen, Gardner actively embraced white supremacist

Contrary to his words in Aspen, Gardner actively embraced white supremacist rhetoric in January, eagerly saying he will “be supporting the president” when it comes to next year’s election.

Before the El Paso shooting, the FBI warned about the rising threat of white supremacists. Meanwhile, Gardner refuses to make it harder for a terrorist to obtain a military-style assault rifle and embraces Trump, a man using his position of power to recite white supremacist talking points.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.