Pro-gun Plumbers Unclog Political System ~> Gather Support For Historic Recall Votes In Colorado

Paradise Firearms owner Paul Paradis and other gun rights activists are petitioning for the recall ofColorado Senate President John Morse after the Democrat-controlled state government enacted sweeping gun control laws. (Associated Press)

DENVER — In one of the more unlikely insurgencies of the year in American politics, three young plumbers from Pueblo have stunned Colorado’s political establishment by doing what many campaign veterans insisted was impossible.

Armed with little more than a petition, an army of volunteer signature-gatherers and their iPhones, political newcomers Victor Head, his brother Adam Head, and Ernest Mascarenas have forced a recall election for state Sen. Angela Giron, a rising star in the state’s powerful Democratic Party and a labor favorite in heavily unionized Pueblo.

The three plumbers’ grass-roots efforts — and Ms. Giron’s struggle to hold on to her seat — have roiled politics in this purple state while laying down a marker in the increasingly fierce state-level battle over gun control laws, political watchers say.

The feat is even more impressive when placed in context: The Sept. 10 recall votes for Ms. Giron and fellow Democrat state Senate President John Morse, driven by their support of sweeping gun control legislation this year, are the first against any elected state official in Colorado’s 137-year history.

“It’s unbelievable. How do these guys get 13,000 people to sign the petition, and [roughly] 12,000 of them are good?” Denver pollster Floyd Ciruli asked. “It’s a miracle. And it shows the passion here in Colorado behind this issue.” More