Congressman Doug Lamborn and other Pikes Peak region Republicans were featured recently on a BBC America news cast as examples of rural-America opposition to President Barack Obama’s policies.

“If he brings forward heavy spending proposals that make us borrow too much money and go deeper into debt, we’re not going to be very excited about that and we will be a backstop. We will be a check against that,” Lamborn said.

The clip describes Colorado as a “wild west”  Republican stronghold that has voted twice for Obama.

Richard Elsner, chair of the Park County Republican Party, criticized the president for being unwilling to compromise.

“They don’t understand what it’s like to be out here,” Elsner said. “He’s just so opposite of what we believe.”

The segment aired before Obama’s State of the Union address.

U.S. Senator Michael Bennet is visiting a domestic abuse shelter in Fort Collins this morning, as he works to pass two bills through Congress both the Violence Against Women Act reauthorized and his bill to provide funding and resources for the the testing of forensic evidence from sexual assaults.

Both measures passed the Senate last week with bi-partisan support. They now head to the House for consideration.

Read more about Bennet’s act and the backlog of untested rape kits in Colorado and the state in this article in The Gazette last week.

In this Jan. 25, 2013, photo, Vice President Joe Biden gestures during a round table discussion on gun violence at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va. AP Photo/Steve Helber

In the middle of a raging battle in the state House Friday over gun-control legislation, Vice President Joe Biden called four Democrats to chat about the proposed bills and their importance to the national debate.

Biden called House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, of Denver; Tony Exum of Colorado Springs, Dominick Moreno of Commerce City and Mike McLachlan of Durango.

Exum said Biden expressed his support for the bills and said it would be an important message to the nation if a western state took the lead on the legislation.

House Republican Leader Mark Waller accused Biden of targeting freshmen lawmakers in tough districts.

“There were Democrats, as we talked to them, they were on the fence about how they were going to vote on these bills today,” Waller, R-Colorado Springs, said. “When the vice president called them and told them how to vote, then they obviously were told what to do.”

House Democratic Leader Dickey Lee Hullinghorst disagreed with that statement.

“There were enough Democrats to vote yes when we started the day today,” Hullinghorst said. “The call was made to congratulate them and all of us on a vigorous debate and on addressing this issue.”

Hullinghorst said she knows her members and knows there weren’t any Democrats on the fence.

The debate Friday lasted more than 12 hours on four gun-control bills that included a limit on magazine capacity and universal background checks.

There are 37 Democrats and 28 Republicans in the House. It would have taken four voters swapping to tie the vote.

House Speaker Mark Ferrandino said “The states are the microcosm, the incubators for democracy.”

House Minority Leader Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs, says Friday the gun-magazine limit was the most disappointed he’s been in his time in the legislature.

Democrats in the House preliminarily approved a bill Friday that will make the purchase, transfer or possession of magazines that contain more than 15 bullets a misdemeanor.

The debate on House Bill 224 took up most of the day Friday, and lawmakers had three other gun bills on the agenda for the day when the vote was taken at 3 p.m.

Author of the bill, Rep. Rhonda Fields, R-Aurora, said that historically the common link between mass shootings has been high-capacity magazines. Including the shooting in her district this summer at an Aurora movie theater that killed 12 people and wounded 58.

“They are using high capacity magazines to unload as many bullets as they can to kill as many people as possible,” Fields said. Banning the high-capacity magazines would save lives in these mass shootings.

Almost every Republican in the House spoke against the bill.

The outnumbered GOP members argued the bill would do little to enhance public safety and would only remove the viable self-defense tool from the hands of law abiding citizens.

Others argued that manufacturers in Colorado of high-capacity magazines would move out of the state costing the state jobs and revenue.

“We’re doing it because that’s the way the political whims are blowing,” House Republican Leader Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs said. “Make no mistake we are not pushing this piece of legislation for any reason to enhance public safety. I have never been more disappointed in my time in the legislature than I am right now because of the approach we are taking with this piece of legislation.”

Lawmakers are now discussing a bill to create universal background checks that would require private gun sales to conduct the checks for felonies an other criminal activities that prohibit a person from purchasing a gun.

Associated Press

House Republican Leader Mark Waller and Rep. Bob Gardner criticized Democrats Thursday for how they have handled their power as majority, particularly when it comes to four proposed gun bills.

“These are some of the most significant pieces of legislation we are going to see this year and they are ramming them through,” Waller, of Colorado Springs said. “From the time they are read across the desk until the time they are passed out of the House presumably a week.”

All four bills are expected to be heard on the House floor Friday. The legislation would create and charge for universal background checks, limit magazine capacity to 15 bullets and ban concealed carry on college campuses.

“It’s going to be very interesting, I think we’re going to be here for a while,” Waller said. “I’m not convinced at all four pieces of this legislation are going to pass tomorrow. I’m hopeful that we’re going to be able to kill magazine capacity limits and maybe even the college campus bill. I’m not sure yet, but we might have a chance on this.”

Gardner, who sat on the committee Thursday that heard some of the bills, voiced his concern that debate on the issues was being thwarted.

“While I respect the fact that the majority party wishes to carry out its agenda, move it’s agenda forward as speedily as possible … the fact is just because you can does not make it the best of practices nor does it make it a fully democratic process,” Gardner said in a moment of personal privilege on the House floor.

The Old Supreme Court Chambers were packed Tuesday morning as a House committee prepares to take testimony on two proposed gun bills.

It was standing room only with a line out the door for a House hearing on two gun bills – one to limit high capacity magazines and another to require universal background checks.

The House Judiciary Committee will begin taking testimony on the bills shortly and the discussion can be streamed live here.

House Bill 1224 by Rep. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, is proposing that large-capacity magazines, like the one used in the Aurora movie theater shooting be banned. The bill limits the magazines to 10 rounds of ammunition.

Those who currently own high-capacity magazines would be able to keep them, but selling or transferring them becomes a misdemeanor. And manufacturers may be required to stamp new magazines with creation dates and tracking information.

House Bill 1229 would require background checks for all sales and transfers of firearms including between individual parties.

Gov. John Hickenlooper will be in Washington, D.C. Tuesday to testify before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee about increased natural gas development and the impact that has on the economy.

U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, who is a member of the committee, will introduce Hickenlooper and question the governor.

The hearing will begin at 8 a.m. Mountain Time and can be streamed live here.

Photo By Mark Reis, The Gazette

After having two attempts to obtain roughly $20 million for Colorado wildfire recovery thwarted, Senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall introduced a bill today to fund Emergency Watershed Protection Needs across the nation.

“Colorado cannot wait any longer for these resources — they are critical as our communities try to safeguard their drinking water and rebuild in the wake of last year’s terrible wildfire season,” Bennet said in a media release.

The federal fund for watershed protection has been mostly tapped and has a $60 million backlog in projects, including Colorado’s needs.

Bennet and Udall first attempted to get the funds in a relief bill for Hurricane Sandy, but that measure died in the House after inaction in January. The Sandy bill was passed by both the House and Senate last month, but without funding for Colorado or other states with disasters.

Read more about the issue in The Gazette’s special package on the threat of flood and landslide following the Waldo Canyon Fire.

- Megan Schrader

Gov. John Hickenlooper announced plans Wednesday to further improve the Colorado Department of Human Services, particularly when it comes to protecting children, by expanding his 2012 agenda.

“This second phase will build on what the state is doing in partnership with local government to protect children and keep more families healthy,” Hickenlooper said in a media release. “Beyond what state and local government does, a new hot line will make it easier for every Coloradan to join in protecting kids.”

The statewide hotline will allow the public to use one phone number to report child abuse and neglect, according to the press release.

“Keeping Kids Safe and Families Healthy 2.0″ – as the Democrat’s office has labeled the plan – hinges on a $22 million amended budget request Hickenlooper requested last month. A key aspect of the plan would be increased budgets for county programs that have historically been short on funds.

According to the Division of Child Welfare 2011 fact sheet, the agency had 80,000 referrals in fiscal year 2011 and had 11,153 children in out of home placement, 7,396 children in foster or group homes, 4,126 children living with extended families, and had 926 finalized adoptions.

You can read more about his plan in The Denver Post.

A town hall has been scheduled with two Colorado Springs Democrats – Rep. Pete Lee and Rep. Tony Exum – to discuss the current legislative session.

The event begins 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9 at Penrose Public Library, 20 N Cascade Ave. The lawmakers are looking for an open dialogue with constituents about questions, concerns and comments. It should last a couple hours.