February 13, 2013 10:47 AM UTC

"I'm Tired of Pulling Bullets Out of Kids"

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• by: Colorado Pols

FOX 31's Eli Stokols reports on yesterday's gripping testimony on bills to close the "background check loophole" and restrict the capacity of ammunition magazines sold in the state of Colorado before the Colorado House Judiciary Committee. Perhaps the most compelling witness was Arapahoe County coroner Michael Doberson.

For our out-of-state readers, Arapahoe County includes most of the city of Aurora.

“These high-capacity magazines allow a gun to fire large amounts of bullets to kill people as fast as possible,” Fields told the committee.

The Arapahoe County Coroner, who received the bodies of last summer’s theater shooting, helped [Rep. Rhonda] Fields hammer that point home.

“Hardly a week goes by when I don’t see what a bullet can do to a human body,” said Coroner Michael Doberson. “The most devastating wounds I’ve seen have been the result of high velocity rounds, like those fired by semiautomatic weapons like the AR-15.

“These are basically military-style weapons that have been introduced into our civilian spaces, our streets, our shopping malls, our schools. These rounds have devastating effects on the human body, even when only one strikes. Can you imagine what happens when multiple bullets are fired from one of these high-capacity magazines?

“Well, I can.”

The conservative response, which numerically was far greater than those testifying in support of Rep. Rhonda Fields' two pieces of legislation, revolved around a very consistent and tautological argument:

“Criminals don’t abide by the law,” the National Rifle Association’s Colorado lobbyist, Daniel Carey, told the committee. “That’s what makes them criminals.”

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee probably heard fifty or more variations of the circular but central argument for pro-gun witnesses that "criminals don't follow laws." Because this could be considered true of all criminals, and all laws, we've never been able to understand how it can be made with any kind of logical consistency. This is a nice way of saying that, after some repetition, we've begun to realize that this is truly one of the most ridiculous arguments ever made. If that's true, we should all give up on ever passing laws again. Right?

Against this crush of irrational lay testimony, far outnumbering proponents, based in many cases on unfettered speculation and hyperbole, you have the coroner for Aurora who says he is tired of pulling bullets out of kids.

In a perfect world, that would have a way of cutting through the noise.