http://www.denverpost.com/news/shot041300a.htm
Hundreds protest at gun-rights rally
By Patricia Callahan and J. Sebastian Sinisi
Denver Post Staff Writers
April 13 - As thousands filed out of a gun-control event led by President Clinton on Wednesday morning, a gun-rights activist tossed a pamphlet to a high school student attending the Downtown rally.
The girl wiped her behind with it and threw it over her shoulder at more than 200 protesters chanting, "Guns Save Lives."
The clashing gun-rights advocates and opponents illustrated the dramatic debate over gun laws in the state at a time when Clinton said "the country is looking very closely at Colorado."
Hours later, in front of the state Capitol's west steps, a 9-month-old boy in camouflage overalls chewed on his baby seat, oblivious that he was the focal point of a separate, 120-person gun-rights rally. Two signs leaned on his baby seat: "Let my parents protect me" and "Mommy doesn't call 911."
Protests around Denver on Wednesday contrasted sharply with the pep-rally spirit inside the Colorado Convention Center, where Clinton pledged support for a proposed state ballot initiative that would mandate background checks for people buying guns at gun shows. Some 220 gun-rights supporters made sheep noises and heckled the invitation-only crowd of 3,000 gun-control supporters as they filed out of the convention center.
Despite the shouting, the protest remained peaceful. Police said they made no arrests.
"If you really want to cut crime, you have to arm everybody!" Larimer County resident Steve Zeigenhagen shouted at students.
Justin Segall, a 16-year-old junior at Denver's East High School, snapped back, "So I guess that means we should just have everybody shooting everybody." Separated from the protesters by a metal barricade, about 40 teens who attended the gun-control rally inside stared down the protesters.
"You don't have a right to kill someone," 16-year-old South High School student Andrew Harrison yelled at a man wearing a "Gun Control Kills Kids" sticker.
"You're calling me a communist because you're a Nazi." Another protester, Jim Lechman, 36, of Greeley, tossed a pamphlet at students titled "Citizen Rule Book." It contained a copy of the Constitution, Lechman said.
"You don't see how you're being used," Lechman hollered to the students. "That's the kind of garbage they learn going in there to listen to that Communist Clinton."
Nearby, Bob Glass, a 44-year-old who runs a Longmont gun shop, wore a Bill Clinton mask and groused that he was not allowed into the convention center to see the president. To round out his Clinton caricature, Glass sported a pinstripe suit coat with a magenta bra hanging out of the lapel pocket.
Glass co-founded the Coloradobased gun group called the Tyranny Response Team because he said he felt the National Rifle Association wasn't going far enough to prevent changes in gun laws. Dozens of protesters wore Tyranny Response Team T-shirts.
"The NRA has failed, and failed miserably," Glass said. "They have no comprehension of the Second Amendment."
More than half the protesters marched to the state Capitol, where 21-year-old Jennifer Phalen plopped her 9-month-old baby, Jax, in front of a Rocky Mountain Gun Owners banner at the center of the protest.
"This is about me protecting my son," she said as she smoked a cigarette.
Later, Phalen's father held Jax while she put sunscreen on the baby's flushed face. When asked how he felt about his highly politicized grandson, 47-year-old Alan Albertus said, "I love it."
"This is quality time," Phalen chimed in.
The crowd chanted "Where's weasel Bill?" in the background, signifying their distaste for Colorado Gov. Bill Owens' decision to back gun-control measures after the Columbine High School massacre last April 20.
An afternoon protest across town at the University of Denver lacked the energy and fire of the morning demonstrations.
While a "Town Meeting" featuring Clinton and NBC-TV news anchor Tom Brokaw was taking place inside Sturm Hall, DU students teased protesters lined up behind a mesh fence on the lawn. Behind them, students lobbed Frisbees and a football.
Beyond them, about a dozen police officers looked bored.
Copyright 2000 The Denver Post. All rights reserved.
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
Hundreds protest at gun-rights rally
By Patricia Callahan and J. Sebastian Sinisi
Denver Post Staff Writers
April 13 - As thousands filed out of a gun-control event led by President Clinton on Wednesday morning, a gun-rights activist tossed a pamphlet to a high school student attending the Downtown rally.
The girl wiped her behind with it and threw it over her shoulder at more than 200 protesters chanting, "Guns Save Lives."
The clashing gun-rights advocates and opponents illustrated the dramatic debate over gun laws in the state at a time when Clinton said "the country is looking very closely at Colorado."
Hours later, in front of the state Capitol's west steps, a 9-month-old boy in camouflage overalls chewed on his baby seat, oblivious that he was the focal point of a separate, 120-person gun-rights rally. Two signs leaned on his baby seat: "Let my parents protect me" and "Mommy doesn't call 911."
Protests around Denver on Wednesday contrasted sharply with the pep-rally spirit inside the Colorado Convention Center, where Clinton pledged support for a proposed state ballot initiative that would mandate background checks for people buying guns at gun shows. Some 220 gun-rights supporters made sheep noises and heckled the invitation-only crowd of 3,000 gun-control supporters as they filed out of the convention center.
Despite the shouting, the protest remained peaceful. Police said they made no arrests.
"If you really want to cut crime, you have to arm everybody!" Larimer County resident Steve Zeigenhagen shouted at students.
Justin Segall, a 16-year-old junior at Denver's East High School, snapped back, "So I guess that means we should just have everybody shooting everybody." Separated from the protesters by a metal barricade, about 40 teens who attended the gun-control rally inside stared down the protesters.
"You don't have a right to kill someone," 16-year-old South High School student Andrew Harrison yelled at a man wearing a "Gun Control Kills Kids" sticker.
"You're calling me a communist because you're a Nazi." Another protester, Jim Lechman, 36, of Greeley, tossed a pamphlet at students titled "Citizen Rule Book." It contained a copy of the Constitution, Lechman said.
"You don't see how you're being used," Lechman hollered to the students. "That's the kind of garbage they learn going in there to listen to that Communist Clinton."
Nearby, Bob Glass, a 44-year-old who runs a Longmont gun shop, wore a Bill Clinton mask and groused that he was not allowed into the convention center to see the president. To round out his Clinton caricature, Glass sported a pinstripe suit coat with a magenta bra hanging out of the lapel pocket.
Glass co-founded the Coloradobased gun group called the Tyranny Response Team because he said he felt the National Rifle Association wasn't going far enough to prevent changes in gun laws. Dozens of protesters wore Tyranny Response Team T-shirts.
"The NRA has failed, and failed miserably," Glass said. "They have no comprehension of the Second Amendment."
More than half the protesters marched to the state Capitol, where 21-year-old Jennifer Phalen plopped her 9-month-old baby, Jax, in front of a Rocky Mountain Gun Owners banner at the center of the protest.
"This is about me protecting my son," she said as she smoked a cigarette.
Later, Phalen's father held Jax while she put sunscreen on the baby's flushed face. When asked how he felt about his highly politicized grandson, 47-year-old Alan Albertus said, "I love it."
"This is quality time," Phalen chimed in.
The crowd chanted "Where's weasel Bill?" in the background, signifying their distaste for Colorado Gov. Bill Owens' decision to back gun-control measures after the Columbine High School massacre last April 20.
An afternoon protest across town at the University of Denver lacked the energy and fire of the morning demonstrations.
While a "Town Meeting" featuring Clinton and NBC-TV news anchor Tom Brokaw was taking place inside Sturm Hall, DU students teased protesters lined up behind a mesh fence on the lawn. Behind them, students lobbed Frisbees and a football.
Beyond them, about a dozen police officers looked bored.
Copyright 2000 The Denver Post. All rights reserved.
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
