AURORA, Colo. — When the Columbine High School massacre happened near here in 1999, many felt it would galvanize gun control efforts. Others thought the same in 2012, when a gunman killed 12 moviegoers at a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.”
Aurora’s experience with mass gun violence stretches back to 1993, when a former employee entered a Chuck E. Cheese’s and killed four people. The district has more registered Democrats than Republicans, and by presidential election results, it is slightly bluer than the nation as a whole.
Yet four successive Democrats have failed to unseat Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican with consistent A ratings from the National Rifle Association and more campaign contributions from the group than any other member of Colorado’s congressional delegation.
This year, however, Jason Crow — an Army veteran who wants to ban assault weapons, restrict high-capacity magazines and expand background checks — appears poised to defeat Coffman. A New York Times/Siena College poll last month showed Crow leading by 9 points. Crow has also raised some $1.6 million more than Coffman.
He is one of a large number of Democrats who are campaigning explicitly on gun control in a way that most would not have dared do before, when an F rating from the NRA could often be a political death sentence. In one House district in Pennsylvania, both candidates are jostling for the gun control mantle.
Gun rights remain a powerful motivator for millions of Americans, and Republicans continue to argue in many races that their Democratic opponents are a threat to the Second Amendment. According to Gallup polling, 43 percent of Americans have a gun in their home, and Jennifer Baker,
