By IVAN MORENO
Associated Press
DENVER (AP)
-- The weekend after a heated debate over gun control, Colorado state
Rep. Rhonda Fields was flooded with emails, including some she later
told police "disturbed and shocked" her.
Fields
usually gets a few dozen emails in a typical weekend, she said. But a
handful of the 3,000 she received, along with a letter, were so charged
with profanity and references to violence that Denver police arrested
the suspected author, and state troopers increased security for the
lawmaker.
The heightened emotions highlight a
charged debate, pitting those who consider gun ownership a fundamental
right against others calling for stricter laws to prevent violence after
last year's mass shootings at suburban Denver theater and a Connecticut
school.
Fields, a Democrat who represents the
district where 12 people were killed while watching a movie, is a
leading proponent for new gun restrictions, and her role has thrust her
into the spotlight.
"I will not be deterred by threats," Fields said in a statement.
Fields'
case and others show that lawmakers considering new gun restrictions
are becoming the target of aggressive lobbying and sometimes even
threats.
In California, police arrested a man
suspected of threatening a state senator over a bill to limit the rapid
reloading of assault weapons. In Minnesota, a lawmaker who sponsored an
assault weapons ban said she's received threatening emails and calls.
During hearings on gun bills this year, armed Minnesota State Patrol
officers have been present, which is a rarity.
Wyoming
legislative leaders said some of their members had been receiving
abusive and overly threatening communication after the Republican Senate
leader refused to bring up a bill for a vote that would exempt the
state from any federal assault weapons ban.
"It is time for us to act in a better fashion," said Wyoming's Republican Senate president, Tony Ross.
Colorado
lawmakers are bracing themselves for more of the same when they hear a
half dozen gun bills Monday in the Senate. Some of the bills include
proposals from Fields that have already cleared the House, such as
requiring background checks for all gun sales and reducing the size of
ammunition magazines.
"There is this extremist
element where it does feel dangerous to stand up," said Colorado state
Sen. Jessie Ulibarri, a Democrat who will be voting on the bills Monday.
Ulibarri received a letter from someone who said they hope the
senator's daughter is raped. Ulibarri has a 2-year-old girl.
Democrats
say many of the emails and phone calls they are receiving are from out
of state, or from people who don't live in their district.
Not
all of the emails have been negative. Both Democrats and Republicans
say they've gotten many emails in support of their parties' positions on
gun laws.
Colorado Senate Republicans said
they've received thousands of emails, most of them urging lawmakers to
protect the Second Amendment. Republican Sen. Kevin Grantham said he
alone has received about 3,000 messages this session.
One read, "As a law enforcement professional, I prefer that the general public is armed."
"People
are worried about losing their gun rights," Grantham said. "That's the
theme. It comes in different shades and stripes, but it's that people
are worried about their Second Amendment rights."
The
emails directed at Fields, a black lawmaker, last month contained
racial slurs throughout. One directed to her and another lawmaker
co-sponsoring gun legislation read, "hopefully somebody Gifords both of"
you, apparently referring to the shooting in Arizona that wounded U.S.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
It was an unsigned
letter with no return address that drew concerns about a serious threat.
It listed Fields and her daughter with the comment, "Death to Both."
The letter also exclaimed, "There Will Be Blood!"
Police
suspect the man they arrested, 42-year-old Franklin Sain, sent the
emails and the letter, but they have been unable to tie him conclusively
to the letter. According to a police affidavit, Sain apologized to an
officer about the comments he made to Fields in emails and a phone call.
"I'm
just voicing some frustrations about a topic I consider sacred," he
said. Sain is due in court March 8, where he will find out whether he'll
face charges of harassment and attempting to influence a public
official.
© 2013 The Associated Press modified.
