In a campaign advertisement released on Facebook Monday, GOP Congressional candidate Barbara Kirkmeyer (R-CO) became the latest Republican to let her gunshots speak louder than words, as she vowed to defend the nation from “gun-grabbing liberals.”
“Democrats want to take away your 2nd Amendment rights, but I won’t let them,” Kirkmeyer said, after the video showed her firing a gun several times at a local shooting range. “I made Weld County a Second Amendment sanctuary, and I won’t quit until the entire nation is a sanctuary from gun-grabbing liberals.”
Kirkmeyer served as the Weld County Commissioner for several years, and is currently a member of Colorado’s Senate. She is vying with other candidates in the GOP primary in Colorado’s new eight congressional district.
In addition to gun control, Kirkmeyer has been critical of environmental protections for much of her political career. In a recent forum, she said that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “just needs to go away” because it makes it harder for oil and gas companies to do business.
Additionally, during her campaign for state senate, she posted a cartoon promising to be Gov. Jared Polis’ “worst nightmare” by attacking him on policies such as gun control and wind energy.
During her time as commissioner, Kirkmeyer and several other policymakers passed a resolution to make Weld County into a Second Amendment sanctuary. The resolution effectively declares that the county will not enforce any gun control legislation that it does not agree with. In theory, this allows Second Amendment sanctuaries to ignore even federal laws, such as mandatory background checks.
The resolution was passed in response to a 2019 bill that allowed individuals to petition a judge to remove firearms from someone they think is dangerous to themselves or others.
Kirkmeyer wrote the following in the Facebook post: “As your Congresswoman, I will work to make the entire U.S. a Second Amendment sanctuary from the Democrats’ anti-gun laws.”
Kirkmeyer is only the most recent in a long line of GOP politicians to add extra firepower to their advertisements, in Colorado and nationally. Infamously, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) released a campaign advertisement showing herself carrying her glock around Washington D.C. and claiming she would take it with her into the Capitol – mere days before the Jan. 6 Insurrection.
Some of these advertisements have taken a bombastic turn, with Republicans blowing up effigies of their poltical anathemas – like when U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) shot at a car with “Socialism” written on it last year.
Compared to some of these advertisements, Kirkmeyer’s video seems fairly tame: she fires her gun in a shooting range, with proper protective equipment, and at an actual target instead of cars or office equipment.
But the ad still echoes a similar concern: that Americans’ rights are under attack and must be defended.
Kirkmeyer did not immediately respond to a phone call requesting comment. This article will be updated with any response received.
