OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 2:20 PM PT – Wednesday, November 30, 2022
The Democrat Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, visited the site of the Club Q shooting. He took a trip down to Colorado Springs to commemorate those who lost their lives in the shooting.
When speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Polis said he would work with the state legislature to improve Colorado’s red flag law in light of the tragedy.
“We are going to work with members of the legislature, with law enforcement in improving the red flag law to make sure it’s able to be used in instances where acts like this, as well as suicides can be reduced by temporarily removing access to weapons when somebody is in a mental health crisis,” Polis said.
The shooter, Anderson Lee Aldrich, managed to evade the state’s already strict gun control laws by baffling Democrats who regularly push gun control whenever a mass shooting takes place. Aldrich, who self-identifies as non-binary, opened fire in the gay club killing 5 people and injuring 17 others before he was arrested.
Polis then went on to respond to reports about Aldrich reportedly using so-called ghost guns to carry out the deadly attack. While he said the topic of regulating unregistered firearms was not on the table, the Democrat governor said it should be a point of discussion both at the state and federal level.
“I know it’s been reported by news sources, and I don’t have independent confirmation that one or perhaps both of the weapons were ghost guns and unregistered,” he said. “I think that regardless of, again, what emerges in this case and that has been reported, I don’t have independent confirmation, but the reporting has been clear. A discussion about unregistered ghost guns that aren’t necessarily subject to a background check would also be an appropriate discussion for the federal government to have, but also for a state to have.”
Such topics have been slammed by Second Amendment advocates for being ineffective at stopping gun related homicides. Additionally, the DOJ released a report earlier this year showing there were only 692 homicide cases where ghost guns were used over the past six years.
Polis ended by reaffirming that Club Q will reopen and remain a sanctuary for LGBTQ individuals.
“Club Q will be back and the community will be back and people will feel safe and people will learn from this,” he said. “The perpetrator, of course, will be held fully accountable under the laws of Colorado for the heinous acts committed.”
In the meantime, Aldrich is currently being held without bail as he awaits a trial.