A national political group advocating for gun control criticized U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) for his past calls to arm teachers in schools.
In a post to X (formerly Twitter), the congressman acknowledged Teacher Appreciation Week (recognized this year from May 4 through May 8), writing, “From preschools to homeschools, from trade schools to high school halls and college lecture rooms, our teachers are building the next generation with hard work, patience, and dedication.”
In a press release on Friday, May 8, Giffords, a national gun control advocacy organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was severely injured during a mass shooting in 2011, placed Evans’s comment in context with his “refusal to take action to protect teachers and students from guns in schools.”
“Evans has opposed background checks, red flag laws, and safeguards on assault weapons, but has advocated for arming teachers as a solution to school shootings,” the press release reads.
While running for Colorado’s state legislature in 2022, Evans posted to Facebook: “Large numbers of educators WANT to protect their classrooms by carrying concealed. They should be allowed, encouraged, provided resources, and trained!”
It’s possible that educators in Evans’s personal circles could have told him they wanted to carry guns in school. A 2022 nationwide survey of teachers by RAND Corporation found that 54% believed carrying guns would make schools less safe, with only 20% supporting guns in the classroom. Those who supported teacher-carry policies were more likely to be male, from a rural school, and/or affiliated with the Republican party.
The press release from Giffords also cited a survey from Pew Research, which found 70% of teachers thought giving guns to teachers would be “not at all effective” in preventing school shootings.
“Teachers are already consistently overworked and underpaid. However, they are not, and should not be expected to be, trained law enforcement officers. If Evans truly cared about protecting students and teachers, he would work across the aisle to support mental health resources and stop violent individuals from accessing firearms rather than pushing gun industry plans to put Colorado kids in the crossfire,” said Emma Brown, Executive Director of Giffords, in the press release. “Gabe Evans is out of step with the majority of educators and parents who want to breathe easier after school drop off, knowing their leaders have taken steps to keep their kids safe in the classroom.”
Evans’s record of opposing gun control goes beyond his comments calling to give guns to teachers. In 2023, he joined fellow Republican lawmakers in co-sponsoring a resolution for a constitutional amendment to allow concealed carry of handguns “in any area of Colorado except areas prohibited by state law.”
However, his stance on this issue was not without limited exceptions, specifically regarding further penalizing people who have committed crimes. As he geared up for his 2024 challenge to then-congresswoman Yadira Caraveo, Evans was one of two sponsors (alongside former Republican state Sen. Bob Gardner, who also ran for U.S. Congress that year) for a bill that would have banned gun ownership for people with past drug offenses or motor vehicle theft offenses. Though the bill never made it out of the Senate, it received support from some Democratic lawmakers.
If sponsoring that bill meant Evans was moderating on firearms, he did not show it in his rhetoric on the campaign trail that year. During 2024’s CD8 Republican Assembly, Evans told the audience that the “radical left is coming for our way of life; they want to control your house, your job, your guns, your health, how you travel to your job, what you eat, what you wear, what your children wear, what your children’s gender is.”
Evans supports easier access to sawed-off shotguns
Later that year, Evans signed the Colorado Libertarian Party’s candidate pledge, which stipulated, among other things, that if elected he would “move to abolish all unconstitutional gun laws, including the NFA [National Firearms Act],” which restricts the availability of machine guns, sawed-off shotguns, and silencers. This allowed him to avoid a Libertarian opponent in his highly-competitive district, potentially aiding him in defeating Caraveo. (Since Evans took office, Libertarians have noted that Evans has not followed several of the pledge’s stipulations.)
A day after Evans’s post celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week, the Trump Administration moved to sue the state of Colorado over gun control policy. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) argues in its lawsuit that a state law banning the sale and ownership of “large-capacity magazines,” defined as being able to accept more than 15 rounds of ammunition, violates the Second Amendment. The law was passed following the deadly Aurora theater shooting in 2012.
A spokesperson for Evans did not respond to an email asking about what stance, if any, Evans had on the DOJ’s lawsuit against his home state. This story will be updated with any response received.
Evans’s race for reelection this year is projected to be one of the tightest in the country. Among Colorado unaffiliated voters, a 2025 survey found that a combined 34% thought gun violence was an extremely serious or very serious issue, and 25.7% thought it was just somewhat serious.
Democrats call for stronger gun safety laws
Earlier this month, Giffords held a roundtable with Colorado Democratic lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-CO), state Reps. Lorena Garcia (D-Denver) and Chad Clifford (D-Centennial), to discuss public safety and gun control. The event included sharp criticism of Evans’s record on gun control.
“Gun violence isn’t inevitable – it’s a policy choice. As an elected member of the legislature and a law enforcement officer, I have made my choice, consistently, with every vote for common-sense gun laws. I expect others to do the same,” said State Rep. Chad Clifford in a separate press release about the event. ”This community has done the hard work of showing up, speaking out, and demanding better. CD-08 deserves elected officials who match your courage. I think your choice is clear.”
