2002 Colorado Sheriffs' Candidate Questionnaire
Rocky Mountain Gun Owners
P.O. Box 3114
Denver, Colorado 80201
Phone & Fax (303) 432-3006
www.RMGO.org
Candidate name: __________________________ (please print)
The following survey is a list of questions important to gun owners in Colorado. Our goal is to provide gun owners within your county with a detailed accounting of your views on their constitutional rights. This survey is public, not private, and will likely be viewed by hundreds if not thousands of potential constituents. Failure to answer this survey is viewed with suspicion by those who hold their Constitutional rights in high regard.
Please submit the following survey to RMGO, PO Box 3114, Denver, Colorado 80201.
Call 303-432-3006 with questions. Only signed surveys will be accepted.
Candidate Name: ______________________ Party: ______
County: ______________________
1. Sheriffs in Colorado have long aligned themselves with County Sheriffs of Colorado (CSOC) as a method of advocating or defeating changes in the legislature. This association is often opposed to the rights of gun owners.
Will you take public positions in favor of private citizens' rights to keep and bear arms, even though that position may be at odds with CSOC?
Yes _____ No _____.
2. In 2000, Tom Mauser and SAFE Colorado launched a ballot initiative to close the so-called "gun show loophole." In essence, this expanded the Colorado Brady Registration check to private purchases at gun shows.
Do you oppose closing the "gun show loophole"?
Yes _____ No _____
3. Gun control advocates hype the false idea that certain cosmetic features make some semi-automatic firearms or high capacity magazines "different" than others. Media hysteria has led to the misperception that semi-automatic firearms are so-called "assault weapons." All semi-automatic firearms function essentially the same, as do all magazines. Since the 1994 Crime Bill had a 10 year sunset, which contained the Feinstein "Assault Weapons" ban, Congress must vote to reauthorize that ban by 2004.
Do you oppose legislation banning the manufacture, sale or possession of semi-automatic firearms and large-capacity magazines?
Yes _____ No _____
4. So-called "instant" background checks are in fact computerized central gun registration systems. Only a single computer keystroke is necessary to permanently register every gun sale and gun buyer. Furthermore, anti-gunners know an "instant" check system is the foundation for so-called "one-gun-a-month" laws (as in Virginia) and other gun control schemes.
Will you support the repeal of computerized "instant" Brady background check legislation since it centrally registers gun sales and gun owners?
Yes _____ No _____
5. Most firearms experts recognize that mechanical devices, such as trigger locks, create an extremely dangerous condition, whereby a gun can be fired accidentally. In addition, these dangerous "lock up your safety" devices and laws that coerce citizens to "safely store" their firearms may render a firearm unavailable and/or ineffective when most needed. This may leave an individual or family defenseless.
Do you oppose government mandated use of trigger locks or other so-called "safe storage" laws which have the effect of making it difficult, if not impossible, to have a gun available to defend your home and family?
Yes ______ No _____
6. Vermont has one of the lowest violent crime rates in the nation. The Vermont carry law recognizes that every citizen has the right to carry a gun, openly or concealed, except to commit a crime. Thus, with no government bureaucracy or license, Vermont citizens can defend themselves. Criminals who use arms are severely punished.
Would you support Vermont-style legislation which would eliminate all requirements to pay fees and register gun owners and simply allow law-abiding citizens to carry firearms openly or concealed (at the individual's discretion) for any reason except for the commission of a crime?
Yes _____ No _____
7. Some gun rights groups have touted Project Exile as a way to enforce existing gun laws. This has spawned TV commercials urging citizens to turn in their neighbors for "illegal guns" and other Gestapo-like tactics. This project, which is really a collaboration between state and federal authorities, plays into the hands of gun-banners, using gun rights groups as a pawn to enforce domestic abuse gun bans and other bad gun laws.
Will you oppose Project
Exile, which attempts to enforce unconstitutional and unwarranted attacks on citizens' rights to keep and bear arms?
Yes _____ No _____
8. Federal agencies are creating their own SWAT teams and are increasingly using their status as quasi-law enforcement as methods to enforce compliance with federal law. Some U.S. Sheriffs have restricted the activities of federal agencies in their county, requiring permission from the Sheriff's department before taking "police action."
Will you require federal agencies to obtain your department's prior approval before taking "police actions" in your county?
Yes _____ No _____
9. Current Colorado law gives County Sheriffs a great degree of discretion in issuing concealed weapons permits,
even to residents outside of your county, and releases sheriffs from virtually all liability. The only current requirements are that a sheriff take fingerprints (a sheriff is not required to use the results of those prints for anything) and conduct a background investigation on the applicant.
Assuming you follow the state law by conducting a background and investigation and taking fingerprints, please check all the boxes of the criteria you will develop in your county. As sheriff, I will issue concealed weapons permits to applicants who:
___ I will not issue any permits
___ I will issue permits only to law enforcement officers
___ Are County residents only
___ Are Unincorporated county residents only (not living in a city)
___ Are Colorado residents who can pass a simple Brady check
___ Are American citizens who can pass a simple Brady check
___ Show a "need" to carry
___ List the serial number of all firearms owned
___ List the serial number of the firearm to be carried
___ List type of handgun to be carried
___ Minimum _________ years of age
___ Prove proficiency by shooting at our department's range
___ Prove they have the minimum training of:
___ Hunter safety
___ NRA handgun course
___ Other ________________________________
$______ for a ___ year permit
Other criteria
____________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
I hereby submit the answers to this survey as my solemn word that, if elected, I will guide my department to administer these issues as I've indicated in this survey.
Signed __________________________________ Date________ County ______________
(Candidate signature)
Print Name ____________________________________
Feel free to attach additional comments to this survey. Unanswered questions will be considered as opposition to the rights of gun owners.
