Colorado Democrat Rep. Diana DeGette draws criticism for "pretty stupid" ammo-magazine comment

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_22942476/degette-draws-criticism-pretty-stupid-ammo-magazine-comment

 

Rep. Diana DeGette draws criticism for "pretty stupid" ammo-magazine comment

Posted: 04/03/2013 05:34:01 PM MDT
April 4, 2013 4:58 PM GMTUpdated: 04/04/2013 10:58:49 AM MDT

By Allison Sherry
The Denver Postdenverpost.com

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette is drawing national ridicule for an inaccurate statement she made Tuesday about magazines. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)

WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette drew national criticism Wednesday for remarks made at a public forum in which she said banning high-capacity in ammunition magazines would be effective in reducing gun violence because "the bullets will have been shot and there won't be any more available."

For years in Congress, DeGette has been the prime sponsor on a federal ban on high-capacity magazines.

But despite the congresswoman's claim, ammunition magazines can be reloaded with more bullets and can be reused hundreds of times.

"These are ammunition, they're bullets, so the people who have those now, they're going to shoot them, so if you ban them in the future, the number of these high-capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot and there won't be any more available," she said at Tuesday's forum, hosted by The Denver Post's editorial board.

DeGette spokeswoman Juliet Johnson on Wednesday said the senior congresswoman from Denver "misspoke" and then issued another erroneous statement about guns.

"The congresswoman has been working on a high-capacity assault magazine ban for years and has been deeply involved in the issue; she simply misspoke in referring to 'magazines' when she should have referred to 'clips,' which cannot be reused because they don't have a feeding mechanism," Johnson said.

Actually, clips in most guns can be reused as well.

Immediately after DeGette's Tuesday remark, the audience in The Post building chuckled and Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith, who was also on the panel, urged people who have not shot a gun to "get to the facts. ... Let's be educated as we make this decision."

The story went viral Wednesday.

The National Rifle Association issued a simple statement: "Two words: Pretty stupid."

The Colorado GOP called DeGette's statements "extremely alarming" because, the group said, she is running a piece of federal legislation that she apparently doesn't know anything about.

"Rep. DeGette's comments show that Democrats are more concerned with appeasing their radical base than standing up for responsible, law-abiding citizens," spokesman Owen Loftus said.

Johnson called the attacks "just another example of opponents of common-sense gun-violence prevention trying to manipulate the facts to distract from the critical issue of keeping our children safe and keeping killing machines out of the

hands of disturbed individuals. It's more political gamesmanship that stands in the way of responsible solutions."