Pictured: Rep. Ryan Armagost & Sen. Elect Lynda Zamora Wilson
Monday this week brought two good omens worth sharing with the gun owners of Colorado.
After weeks of the RMGO team putting in the elbow grease, urging the good people of Senate District 9 to support pro-gun candidate Lynda Zamora Wilson, she received a decisive victory from the SD-9 vacancy committee by a vote of 64 – 50.
Before securing the SD-9 seat in the evening, the minority whip of the Colorado House and number three in Republican leadership of the Colorado House of Republicans announced that he will resign come September 1st.
That made two critical wins in the legislative offseason, with real implications for how Colorado’s General Assembly approaches the Second Amendment, in one day.
Quick Recap
Let’s begin with Representative Ryan Armagost, the outgoing House minority whip. Armagost came under fire from Coloradans and critics from other states after RMGO exposed his antics on a variety of bills where he actively opposed the principled, pro-2A position and crowned him “RINO of the Session”.
(Below) Kentucky State Representative TJ Roberts calls out Armagost’s antics on Timcast.
Ryan Armagost has undermined efforts to kill Senate Bill 25-003: a sweeping permit-to-purchase ban on Colorado’s semi-automatic weapons, implied he would shoot activists with flyers, bragged about passing a bill to promote illegal aliens to be law enforcement officers with firearms, and undermined the second amendment in a variety of other ways in his tenure as a legislator.
If you’re interested in a longer recap with visual aids, reference the tweet thread below:
We’ll quickly run down some of the reasons why we’re celebrating Armagost’s retreat from the Colorado legislature, and you should be celebrating too!
- Amid a massive grassroots effort to convince legislators to vote against Senate Bill 25-003 through voter contact, Armagost publicly apologized to legislators who had received the same flyers as their neighbors and voters throughout their districts. The flyers urged these voters to contact their legislator’s office line and tell them to vote no on the worst gun control Colorado had ever seen.
Armagost condemned the flyers and alleviated the pressure voters were placing on undecided legislators to kill Senate Bill 25-003 (SB-003). Instead of standing with his own supporters, Ryan Armagost sold them out for favor with politicians in favor of complete disarmament.
While he was busy working with radical anti-gunners to gain relevance, he tweeted and said that if anyone came to his door with a responsibly worded flyer like those distributed by 2A activists, he would “show them what the second amendment is all about”. - Misguided, one of Armagost’s proudest accomplishments, was his prime sponsorship of bill HB23-1143, which was passed to promote illegal aliens to be law enforcement officers and provide them with firearms.
(Being a “prime sponsor” means you’re the person who brings the law forward to be considered and pushes for it until it becomes law.) Armagost refused to vote to protect the Second Amendment on multiple occasions, but he has reliably pushed for more tyranny throughout his time in office.
Technical Note: We must clarify Ryan Armagost’s job as “Minority Whip”. Armagost was elected by the other Republicans, who are the minority party in the House, to serve in the leadership role of Whip. (click to expand)
- Representative Ryan Armagost’s responsibility is to ensure that every Republican legislator is on the same page about each issue the House of Representatives votes on – and that everyone is present for important votes.
- Instead of rallying the Colorado House Republicans behind the Second Amendment, Armagost served as a divisive force who pushed Republicans to vote AGAINST the Second Amendment.
- Afraid of being responsible for SB-003 passing after he gave the radical left cover, Armagost conveniently failed to inform key representatives of the date of the most important gun vote of the year (SB-003) in a timely fashion and they made plans to be away with family threatening the strength of the resistance on the floor.
Armagost’s job as Whip was to rally his colleagues to fight bills such as these, every step of the way. He performed his job with malice and calculated negligence, attempting to blame his peers for his mistakes. - Ryan Armagost’s first vote in the general assembly was for radical anti-gun House Speaker Julie McCluskie, whom he voted for over one of the most conservative, pro-gun members of the Republican caucus. If you have any doubt that this politician went to the Capitol to do one thing – Sell. You. Out. – this was the first vote he ever took after his voters sent him to Denver.
- Armagost is a big fan of cutting deals with radical leftists – and he’s not even good at it. Armagost agreed to use his leadership credentials to silence his pro-2A colleagues in exchange for a minor, ineffective amendment to HB25-1238: a bill to strangle gun shows out of existence.
If you’re cutting deals with Democrat leadership and both radical leftists Chad Clifford and house leader Monica Duran come away fist-bumping after – you don’t know what you’re doing. The amended language makes it nearly impossible for gun owners to sell guns at gun shows. - Amidst his emotional outbursts on social media, Armagost attacked Second Amendment supporters on social media and claimed that all politics must stay inside the Capitol. He also condemned 2A activists who attempted to engage the voters of key legislators’ districts who would decide the fate of SB-003.
For the record: The People have no power inside the Colorado Capitol. The power of The People lies with the voters. Anyone who tells you not to talk to your neighbor and fellow Coloradans does not have your best interest in mind. - Hotly contested this session was Senate Bill 25-086: a bill that would have mandated lifetime bans if you were found in violation of any social media platform policy. That includes arbitrary polices regulating what you post, such as the ‘community guidelines’ many pro-2A posters have had account bans attributed to. Unsurprisingly, Armagost supported the bill and attempted to whip the House Republicans to vote in favor of this blatant censorship.
That’s Enough Of That
Armagost has shared that his retreat from bad faith policymaking in Colorado is leading him to bad faith policymaking in Arizona under the guise of further 2A “advocacy”…
Look out, Arizona!
A Brave New Voice In The Senate
Linda Zamora Wilson returned RMGO a 100% survey, promising to defend against all threats to the Second Amendment in Colorado – regardless of whether they bear an (R) or a (D) by their name. We look forward to her work pushing back against the anti-gun agenda of the left in the Colorado Senate.
The Winds Are Changing – But the Fight’s Far From Over
Gun owners across Colorado should take a deep breath.
A representative who sold out his supporters time and time again is finally on his way out — and a senator, who has pledged to fearlessly defend our rights, is on her way in. Ryan Armagost’s resignation marks the end of a dark chapter for Colorado.
Meanwhile, Lynda Zamora Wilson’s arrival brings hope for a new, stronger front in the fight for your rights.
But don’t relax just yet, there is still much work to do.
Ian Escalante is the Executive Director for Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, Colorado’s only no-compromise Second Amendment organization, where he fights against the Denver Communists’ attempts for full-scale civilian disarmament daily. Ian has lobbied against gun control in Texas, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Louisiana, and now proudly fights in Colorado!