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McLachlan does not represent all vets

State Rep. Mike McLachlan has sent campaign literature claiming that he is the voice of veterans and military families in the Legislature.

Last year, I met a young veteran who was wounded in Afghanistan in 2005, is wheelchair-bound and felt so strongly about the gun laws being debated by the Colorado Legislature that his parents – Durango residents – drove him to the Capitol in Denver to testify against the gun bills being considered by the Legislature. Unbelievably, he was not allowed to speak before the Legislature, which timed the hearings to minimize public input. Where was Mike McLachlan?

It seems that he is only the voice of veterans when their beliefs agree with his anti-gun agenda. When McLachlan ran for office, he told us he would protect our Second Amendment rights, and yet, he voted for every gun-control bill passed by the Legislature.

I am both a Gold Star Wife and Gold Star Mother, and I understand service and sacrifice. My first husband was killed in action in Vietnam, my son in Iraq, and I am married to a disabled veteran, so I’m certainly part of the military family. McLachlan does not represent me, nor is he my voice in the Colorado Legislature. He lied when he said that he would protect my Second Amendment rights.

I know how terrifying it is to wake up alone in the middle of the night to the sound of someone breaking into my home with the police 20 minutes away.

Fortunately, my dad believed that every woman should be able to protect herself, so I learned to handle guns and shoot at an early age. McLachlan has stated publicly that he knows that criminals will always have guns, and yet he voted to make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to own guns and protect themselves.

I do not agree with J. Paul Brown’s position on every issue, but I know that he really believes in individual rights and limited government. That is why I support J. Paul Brown to replace Mike McLachlan in the Colorado House.

Dagmar Huffman

Pagosa Springs



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