Wis., Colo. governors sidestep calls for more laws after high-profile shootings

The governors of both Colorado and Wisconsin said Sunday that they don’t think gun control should be a bigger issue in the current campaign, despite recent high-profile acts of gun violence in their states.

Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, a Democrat, instead said that he was concerned that Mitt Romney, the GOP nominee for president, could cut funding for mental health. 

“We’ve got some crazy folks out there, that are just completely delusional,” Hickenlooper said. “We’ve got to be able to identify that sooner, and get them into treatment, get them off the street before they do some sort of insane act.”

The lawyers for James Holmes, who was arrested this summer for a mass shooting in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, have said their client is mentally ill.

Meanwhile, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a Republican, said on the NBC show that more attention needed to be paid to domestic violence laws. 

A 42-year old woman was shot and killed in Wisconsin last Sunday by her estranged husband, who opened fire at the hair salon where she worked.

“We didn’t do enough in this state apparently, at least at the local level, to adequately enforce those laws,” Walker said.

“We didn’t do enough to stand up for domestic violence victims in our state at the local level. We need to do more of that. And that’s something that I think isn’t a partisan issue.”