Father of teen-age boy slain at Columbine joins downtown protest outside NRA meeting

By Carla Crowder
and Deborah Frazier Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writers

More than 8,000 men, women and children gathered at the Colorado Capitol Saturday morning to send the NRA a message that gun laws must change.

Tom Mauser of Littleton came wishing his son was alive.

"Something is wrong in this country when a child can grab a gun so easily and shoot a bullet into the middle of a child's face, as my child experienced," he said.

Mauser decided to address the protest after listening to the first speakers.

He carried a sign that read, "My son Daniel died at Columbine. He'd expect me to be here today."

Daniel Mauser, 15, was one of the 13 killed by two gunmen April 20 at Columbine High School.

The protesters came from Colorado, as well as California, Utah, Washington and Ohio. Some want automatic weapons banned. Others want child-proof locks on weapons. And many want all guns seized and forbidden.

Denver police estimated the crowd between 6,000 and 10,000.

Protesters first fanned out on the lawn of the state Capitol then quietly marched to form a moving circle around the Adam's Mark Hotel. Inside, 4,000 NRA members were gathered.

"We are all victims as long as we tolerate the status quo," said Charles Blek of California, whose son was killed in a New York robbery. "We have safety standards for teddy bears and that lethal toaster. But we have no safety standards for handguns."

Added his wife, "To the NRA that says you love your guns, I say we love our children more than you love your damn guns."

As the Bleks spoke, a pro-gun demonstrator moved to the front of the crowd, shouting and carrying a sign that read, "Hitler Would Love This Crowd. Hitler Was Anti-Gun."

Several members of Denver's SWAT team removed him. He was arrested, but his identity hasn't been released.

The rally echoed themes of '60s anti-war and civil-rights protests. On the way downtown, marchers sang, We Shall Overcome.

"Someone needs to tell Charlton Heston that this is not a movie," said Pastor P.L. Demmer, president of the Great Denver Ministerial Alliance. "This is rated R for real. Real death. Real destruction. Real children. And it's real that it all comes from a gun."

Speakers emphasized peace, with political action to overcome the gun lobby running a close second.

"It's much too easy to blame the NRA for what happened last week. It's not the NRA that took guns and bombs into that school. We have to look to ourselves, too," said Rabbi Stephen Foster, of Congregation Emanuel.

Columbine parent Linda Cuesta said she endured long, panicked moments after the shooting desperately looking for her son. During that time she bargained with God. If her son made it out safely, she'd go to work against guns.

Her son escaped safely, and Cuesta has found a cause.

"I used to be polite, and I tried to understand the need for citizens to own guns, to own arsenals," she said. "I'm not polite anymore. I want the NRA out of this city and out of this state."

Mauser told protestors that there are reasonable guns.

"But the time has come to understand that a TEC-9 semiautomatic like the kind that was used to kill my son is not used to kill deer," he said.

A handful of people in Day-Glo orange caps stood out in the crowd. They were hunters for gun control.

"There are a lot of hunters who've always been opposed to handguns and assault rifles. We haven't done anything about it for a long time, and this is stimulus to do something," said Donald Macalady of Golden.

State Sen. Doug Linkhart, D-Denver, brought his kids with him. They carried signs lettered in childish scrawl. Eric Linkhart, 7, held up one that said, "No more guns. I like you."

Other signs targeted NRA President Charlton Heston: "Hey, Moses. Thou shalt not kill."