A Colorado gun lobbyist told a committee hearing this week that the statistics on gun deaths among children and teenagers would be lower “if you took black men out of that age group.”
The comments came from Kevin Lorusso, a representative of Colorado’s largest gun lobby, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, during a state legislature hearing on several gun bills, Denver7 reported.
During his testimony, Lorusso also suggested that if the Jews of the Holocaust had been armed, they could have at least “picked up a few Nazis on the way” to their own deaths.
“I don’t understand why anyone would say, ‘You know, the Jews would have died in the Holocaust anyway, so maybe they didn’t need their guns,'” Lorusso said. “You know what? Maybe they should have gotten rid of some Nazis. Maybe it would be good for them to have the ability to defend themselves. And that’s what it’s all about.”
Republicans have often blamed the Holocaust in part on gun control laws, including the late Rep. Don Young (D-Alaska), former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, Pennsylvania State Sen. Doug Mastriano and others.
Later in Monday’s hearing, when Colorado State Rep. Kyle Brown (D) cited recent statistics showing that firearms are now the leading cause of death among children and teenagers in the United States, Lorusso said that those statistics would not seem alarming if you did. don’t count “black males” in the numbers.
“If you take black men out of that age group, it’s not true,” Lorusso said, according to Denver7. “This is a symptom of a different problem. The issue of young black men being killed in their homes and on the streets is an entirely different issue. And most of those, I think the number is 99 percent, but I will certainly say that 98 percent of these crimes are committed with illegally acquired and possessed firearms.”
Jason Goldstick — an associate professor at the University of Michigan and lead author of a letter on child and adolescent deaths cited by Brown in the committee hearing — acknowledged to Denver7 that “black youth are certainly at greater risk than non-Hispanic whites. or white Hispanics. , or Native American (youth).” But the story notes that Goldstick “doesn’t understand why lawmakers are stuck in rankings as a sign of importance.”
While Lorusso mentioned “illegally acquired and possessed firearms,” he does not appear to have acknowledged that police shoot and kill blacks far more than whites.
A recent CNN story on child homicide deaths in the United States notes that between 1999 and 2020, “more black children were murdered than any other group, and firearms were the most common weapon used in childhood deaths.” . The story notes that previous research suggests that “racial disparities can be attributed in part” to racist authority figures and “systemic inequities in neighborhoods where many children live with high concentrations of poverty, few safe places to play, and underfunded education.” systems”.
In a statement to Denver7, RMGO Executive Director Taylor Rhodes said Lorusso “spoke poorly” because he had little experience speaking in such situations.
“On Monday, we allowed Kevin Lorusso, our junior staffer, to testify on behalf of Rocky Mountain gun owners on two bills we knew would die in committee to gain experience in the public forum,” said Rhodes in a statement. “If you’ve given evidence on behalf of a large organization or even on your own, this can be a very nerve-wracking exercise. In his testimony, he spoke poorly when discussing a heated topic of the gun issue. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners will continue to support and defend the Second Amendment freedoms of all law-abiding Coloradans.
Rhodes added that the RMO would not comment further on the situation.
Read the full story on Denver7.
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