DENVER – On July 20, 2012, Alex Sullivan and a group of co-workers and friends gathered at a movie theater in Aurora for a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises.”
They were celebrating Alex’s 27th birthday by watching the latest superhero blockbuster, something that was becoming a ritual.
Shortly after the movie began, a man in tactical gear with multiple guns, including an AR-15 with a 100-round capacity drum clip, opened fire, injuring 70 and killing 12, including Alex.
“He (Alex) was a regular, growing kid trying to figure things out,” said Alex’s dad, Tom Sullivan, who lives in Centennial.
Then came the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, and gun violence and gun regulations catapulted to the forefront of people’s minds, including lawmakers at the Colorado Capitol.
During the 2013 legislative session, several bills that increased regulation on gun sales and magazine capacity were passed by a Democratic-controlled Legislature despite substantial opposition from gun owners.
“You had people screaming at you and then people trying to put their NRA stickers on your clothing and stuff,” Sullivan said. “You had senators and legislators walking through the crowd trying to tell people, ‘Go down to the governor’s office and tell him what you think.’”
That was the first year Sullivan came to the Capitol to testify in favor of gun regulations. And while he’s been back every year when the annual Second Amendment bills are brought before committee, 2013 was the hardest.
“I’ve just gone through the first Christmas and New Year’s without my son, so we’re dealing with that,” he said. “We’re also dealing with the reopening of the movie theater, that’s happening right around this time ... and we’re trying to figure out when this trial is going to start.”
Tom Mauser said he also was at the Capitol during the 2013 session, but that was far from his first time fighting for gun regulations.
Mauser said he spent 2000 working for a lobbying company in the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre in which his 15-year-old son Daniel was killed.
Mauser described his son as a shy, non-athletic high-schooler who acknowledged his shortcomings and worked on them by joining the cross country and debate teams at Columbine.
“He had become a straight-A student,” Mauser said. “He was very shy, liked to play video games, had been a Boy Scout and, what I admired most about him was that he took on his weaknesses.”
For Mauser and Sullivan, it has become a yearly duty to come to the Capitol and testify in opposition to bills that expand or restore gun rights.
Another person touched by the violence at Columbine, though, is among the biggest proponents of Second Amendment rights in Colorado.
House Minority Leader Patrick Neville, R-Franktown, was a student at Columbine when two armed seniors opened fire, killing 13 people and wounding more than 20 before taking their own lives.
Last week, Neville presented House Bill 1036, which would have removed the prohibition on carrying concealed firearms onto school campuses for individuals with proper permits, and relayed his experience at Columbine and how it might have been different if his bill had been in place. The bill died in committee.
“On April 20, 1999, two crazed lunatics inflicted mass harm on my innocent classmates,” Neville said. “I will never forget the feeling of grief when we found out our friends were murdered. I will never forget attending multiple funerals. I will never forget visiting grief-stricken families as a 15-year-old kid.”
Neville said the school was an easy target because of the “flashy” gun-free zone signs.
“I truly believe they (the two shooters at Columbine) could have been stopped by the teachers and staff that were so heroic that day if they had the ability to equip themselves to protect those students,” Neville said. “And quite frankly, if they had had that ability, I truly believe more of my friends would be here today.”
For Neville, bills that would expand gun rights are attempts to ensure no one has to go through what he experienced, particularly his wife, Kristi, and daughters, Mary Katelyn and Hannah.
Mauser said he testifies against so-called Second Amendment bills for the exact same reasons.
“I don’t feel it’s that way at all,” Mauser said. “We’ve had an experience. We don’t want people going through what we’ve gone through. I don’t want people to vote my way out of pity; I want them to vote based on common sense and a rational discussion.”
Sullivan, who maintains a file of every testimony he’s delivered since 2013, said he comes to remind the legislators of the people who are affected by their decisions, and that these events are not just random happenstances.
“My son wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said. “He was right where he was supposed to be, celebrating his birthday, and they need to remember that.”
Mauser said he doesn’t feel slighted when bills such as HB 1036 are promoted by lawmakers in Colorado, but he doesn’t like having to come and speak against them.
“I hate doing it,” he said. “I enjoy the challenge of it, I love being able to make my points and formulate an argument. I love that, and yet I hate being there because I know how the lines are drawn. I know how contentious it is, and I know how emotional I was, more so in those earlier years.”
Sullivan said he believes the bills are run every year, even when failure is likely, because of the messages of societal values that are promoted by special interest groups.
Mauser agreed but acknowledged that it isn’t just members of the GOP who run such “message” bills.
“Like a number of interest groups, they’re certainly not alone in this. They have an agenda. They want to see that agenda acted upon, regardless of whether or not they think they have a good chance of passage,” Mauser said.
During the hearing for HB 1036 earlier this week, Neville said he was not running the bill to send a message.
“This isn’t a statement,” he said. “If I wanted to make a statement, I’d run a resolution. This is an incredibly important issue to me.”
While the two sides may differ on the means for achieving school and public safety, what is clear is that they want to make gun violence in Colorado a thing of the past. And neither side looks to back down from their solution anytime soon.
“They talk about the Capitol and it being the people’s house,” Sullivan said. “Well, I’ve got a key to the front door. I’m coming in, and they’re going to see who I am and they’re going to hear from me.”
Lperkins@durangoherald.com
