GOP congressman faces jeers at Colorado town hall: ‘An avalanche is coming to Washington’

Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) reportedly faced criticism at a town hall event Tuesday as constituents called for action on gun control.

Complaints broke out during a moment of silence for the victims of last week’s shooting at a South Florida high school, with one person saying that people are “done with thoughts and prayers,” according to The Associated Press.

Another man said lawmakers should “do something for” the victims and their families, the AP reported. 

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Coffman, whose congressional district encompasses Aurora, Colo., where a deadly shooting in a movie theater took place in 2012, has often been an electoral target for Democrats. Former President Obama won his district in 2012 and Hillary Clinton won it in 2016.

Coffman, according to the AP, has received $34,000 in contributions from the National Rifle Association — more than any other member of Colorado’s congressional delegation. 

But after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., last week, gun control was a key issue at Coffman’s Tuesday town hall.

“I am ashamed, as it took children to shake me from my comfort zone to come forward to say enough is enough,” said Patti Seno, a Democrat who attended the meeting, according to the AP. “An avalanche is coming to Washington, sir, and it is going to be led by our children.”

Coffman reportedly sought to defend his record on gun-related legislation. He told constituents that his decision last year to vote for a rollback of an Obama-era regulation barring Social Security beneficiaries from owning guns if they lack the mental capacity to manage their own benefits was a civil rights issue.

That statement, however, was greeted with jeers and boos, according to the AP.