FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
CONTACT: Sara Loflin, Executive Director at [email protected]

DENVER: Yesterday afternoon in the Colorado House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee, a witness testifying on behalf of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO) responded to a question about the high rate of gun violence deaths among children by stating “if you remove Black males from that age group” from gun violence statistics, “it is not true” that firearms are the leading cause of death among American children. ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest multi-issue progressive advocacy organization, released the following statement in response to RMGO’s unconscionable racism:

“Black lives matter, and every single victim of gun violence matters,” said ProgressNow Colorado Executive Director Sara Loflin. “The epidemic of gun violence has wreaked immeasurable harm to families, communities, and our nation. For the gun lobby to suggest ‘removing’ Black males under the age of nineteen from gun death statistics in order to understate the total impact of gun violence is a racist and immoral devaluation of Black lives, and an affront to the humanity of every person of color in America. The death of children caused by gun violence in America is an assault on our future, and must never be racially downplayed to achieve a desired statistic. It is deplorable that anyone would suggest otherwise.”

“What surfaced yesterday in the Colorado House State Affairs Committee is simply racism that still holds sway among far too many conservatives in America today,” said Loflin. “It’s a sad reality that Kevin Lorusso speaks for a substantial number of Republicans who believe BIPOC families are outsiders in their own communities. The racism on display in the committee hearing yesterday has no place in Colorado politics or in our legislature, and must be condemned without partisan distinction.”

###