State Of The Union: Colorado Guests Draw Attention To Gun Violence, Veteran Suicide

Coloradans in Congress invited several guests to President Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night in Washington, D.C. Colorado representatives used the invitation to draw attention to issues including gun violence and veteran suicide.

A father of one of the Columbine High School shooting victims was in the audience. Tom Mauser attended the State of the Union as a guest of Rep. Joe Neguse, a Democrat who represents Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District.

Mauser became the face of the gun control movement after his son, Daniel Mauser, died. Tuesday night was Mauser’s second appearance at the State of the Union in 20 years.

“I want people to think how shameful it is that we’re still stuck in same place,” Mauser told CBS4’s Political Specialist Shaun Boyd.

Mauser was invited to the State of the Union by President Bill Clinton in 2000. At the time, he implored congress to close a background check loophole that he said contributed to his son’s death.

“It was like he handed me a responsibility,” Mauser said. “This is my way of carrying on his legacy.”

Neguse is 35-years-old, the same age Daniel Mauser would have been today. He helped pass a bill out of the House of Representatives last year to require universal background checks, but the Senate has sat on it.

“There’s not a day that goes by I don’t think about many people lost to gun violence,” said Neguse.

“All we’re asking for is a vote,” Neguse said. “When you have over 90 percent of Americans supporting something as basic and common sense as this, and it can’t even get a hearing in the Senate. To me that is the tyranny of the minority.”