As Durango residents prepared to gather for a march to speak out against gun violence on Saturday morning, state Sen. Don Coram was just blocks away telling his constituents that lawmakers need to do more to keep children safe.
"I am a Second Amendment rights guy all the way, but when I see what happened in Florida, ... we certainly have to do a better job," Coram told an audience of about 100 people at the Durango Public Library.
"Almost 40 times that young man had the cops called on him."
State Rep. Barbara McLachlan also spoke to constituents at the annual Legislative Lowdown sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
McLachlan called herself a "believer in Second Amendment rights," but criticized the gun community, including the NRA, for its failure to respond to recent school shootings.
"I think ... they should be rising to the occasion," she said. "Students should be able to go to school without the fear of being shot. How do we address the people who are making them (responsible gun owners) look bad?"
McLachlan advocated for better-informed students, faculty and staff at schools, who are trained to recognize the signs of suicidal tendencies and other emotional conflicts in students.
"I want to look at this from a school point of view," she said. "How do we help these kids? Suspending them is not the answer. We leave everything up to the counselors at school, and they have a million other jobs."
Coram, a Republican, said he opposes the use of bump stocks, a gun attachment that makes it possible for a semi-automatic rifle to mimic an automatic rifle and rapidly fire rounds. But he defended a right to bear arms.
"A gun can be used for good or evil," he said. "It is totally dependent on who possesses it. The fact is, if you are willing to do evil and die to do evil, there's not a lot we as citizens can do to stop that."
The lawmakers also talked about other topics:
As the Joint Budget Committee prepares to discuss the 2018-19 education budget, both parties spoke in favor of Colorado Senate Bill 18-158, which calls for the Department of Public Safety to make $7 million in annual grants available to schools for five years.
The money would go toward a variety of new school safety measures, Coram said.
Coram promised he would continue to work on the challenge of rural broadband. He called the internet service along the U.S. Highway 160 corridor some of the worst in the state.
Both talked about similar stances on climate change, especially pointing out a shared fear for the upcoming fire season.
"Is climate change real? Yes, it is," Coram said.
"There is a lot we can do to help the environment. It is not a question of 'if' you are going to have a fire, it is 'when.' There's an atmosphere to get things done, and I think we can do it without major fights."
mrupani@ durangoherald.com
