Second Colorado lawmaker faces recall effort for gun control vote

March, 20, 2013: Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signs gun control bills into law in his office at the state capitol in Denver, Colo. (Reuters)

Less than a week after the Colorado secretary of state's office certified a recall effort against a Colorado lawmaker who supported gun control, a recall petition against a second Democrat who supported the strict gun measures has been deemed sufficient.

Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler said Monday that opponents of Sen. Angela Giron, of Pueblo, turned in nearly 13,000 valid signatures to prompt a recall election. They only needed to submit 11,285.

"We fully expected to have enough signatures verified," Victor Head, president of Pueblo Freedom and Rights, the gun rights group behind the recall, told The Denver Post.

The governor will set a date for the recall election unless someone challenges the validity of the petition.

Attorneys for Giron are challenging the effort. In a filing Tuesday, they argue petitioners targeting the state senator failed to expressly call for an election when they collected signatures as the state constitution requires.

Gun rights advocates successfully collected enough signatures in their recall petitions for both Giron and Democratic Senate President John Morse, both of whom voted in favor of stricter firearm laws.

Meanwhile, lawyers for Senate President John Morse are fighting a recall effort against him, saying petitions were improperly worded and were therefore invalid.

The argument challenging Giron's recall is identical to the one filed on behalf of Morse last week.

Gun rights supporters have been unhappy with new state laws that will expand background checks for gun purchases and limit the size of ammunition magazines, starting next month.

A hearing on Morse's challenge is set for Thursday.

New gun laws taking effect Monday expand background checks to online and private sales and limit ammunition magazine sizes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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