During Friday’s marathon gun control hearing in the Colorado Senate, Republican Sen. Kent Lambert offered an amendment to exempt active military members, veterans and their families from the gun magazine ban.
Enter Sen. Mary Hodge, a disgraceful Dem who urged fellow lawmakers to oppose the exemption because “some of them come back with significant mental health problems.”
SenLambert moves amdt to exempt military families&vets from #magban. SenHodge opposes bcz some have mental problems. #coleg
— Dave Kopel (@davekopel) March 9, 2013
http://t.co/Te2HiNg0uY we stand for returing soldiers. They sit for "some mental problems"
— Greg (@SenatorBrophy) March 9, 2013
Wow! Per sponsor of 1224 returning military do not deserve exemption because of mental health issues. Disgusting. #coleg
— Kevin J. Grantham (@SenatorGrantham) March 9, 2013
Responding to Hodge, Lambert noted that there are already laws to prevent mentally ill people from owning firearms. Here’s a rough transcript of the exchange between Lambert and Hodge.
HODGE: Thank you Mr. Chair, I ask for a no vote.
Yes, these are all great and wonderful people, but some of them come back with significant mental health problems and I think we need to check through that first.
CHAIR: Senator Lambert.
LAMBERT: Mr Chair, I really object to this stereotypical viewpoint that all military veterans, that all military returnees have mental health problems. Yes, there is ….
CHAIR: Senator Hodge
LAMBERT: Excuse me, I have the floor, Mr. Chair.
CHAIR: It was a long pause, I apologize. Senator Lambert.
LAMBERT: Thank you Mr. Chair. Of course our active duty military people suffer from traumas of war. They have since the Civil war. They’ve gone through battle fatigue. They’ve gone through soldier’s disease, in the Civil War is what they called it.
But to stereotypically say that we’re just going to have a blanket policy in this state saying that military veterans, who if they have mentally deficient problems or if they have traumatic stress and they’ve been diagnosed they’re not eligible to get weapons anyway. It’s already part of the law.
It does raise a point: are we doing enough for our veterans? Maybe not, but that’s not part of this bill. But please don’t stereotypically identify military veterans and active duty members as being disqualified for arms ownership simply because they’ve served our country.
CHAIR; Senator Hodge
HODGE: Thank you Mr. Chair, and I did not say “all” had mental problems. I said “some.”
The Denver Post has video (see the 09:59:00 mark).
@michellemalkin Did you see the Dems show their cards with the unstable returning military angle #COLeg a harbinger
— Keith Roberts ?? (@Roberts175) March 9, 2013
RT @tedharvey: Senator Hodge wishes she could un-ring that bell? Returning military vets are too mentally ill to have guns. #rscc #RedCO
— Kent Lambert (@KentLambert) March 9, 2013
@SenHodge would you like to come on air & explain why you think military vets are too mentally deranged to be trusted w/ guns? @630khow
— Michael D. Brown (@MichaelBrownUSA) March 9, 2013
https://twitter.com/VitalyKroy/status/310223360548274176
@SenHodge Wow, the true agenda rears its ugly head, serve your country @ you're deemed mentally defective #coleg #guncontrol #ptsd
— Sniper's Hide (@SH_Lowlight) March 9, 2013
The amendment failed.
SHOCKING. Party line vote AGAINST an exemption to allow trained MILITARY members and VETERANS to own gun magazines. #RSCC #RedCO #COLeg
— Kent Lambert (@KentLambert) March 9, 2013
CO Dems vote AGAIN (on the record this time) NOT to allow active duty MILITARY and VETERANS to possess gun magazines. #RSCC #COLeg #RedCO
— Kent Lambert (@KentLambert) March 9, 2013
#COleg just failed to pass an amendment to exempt former military from their mag ban. @SenHodge said vets are mentally unstable (some) #2a
— Chris Johnson (@chrisj_0) March 9, 2013
#coleg The Co-Dems can now add soldiers to the list of women and industry of whom they don't trust or care about!
— Jason Meisner (@MeisnerJason) March 9, 2013
Let’s see how this plays out when Sen. Hodge is up for reelection.
@SenHodge Do you think saying Vets are unstable will help you in CO during the next election? #p2 #liberallogic #2a #coleg
— Chris Johnson (@chrisj_0) March 9, 2013
Like I said, i smell a video. RT @okmaher: Wow, @SenHodge offended military vets saying "some have mental health problems"
— Lynn Bartels (@lynn_bartels) March 9, 2013
Editor’s note: This post has been updated to clarify the starting point of the exchange between Sens. Hodge and Lambert on The Denver Post’s video.
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