‘HEAD’ OF HIS CLASS, CO. PLUMBER SHOWS HOW TO FIGHT BACK
Call Victor Head a “Don Quixote” if you want, but the Colorado plumber who spearheaded a recall campaign against anti-gun Democrat State Sen. Angela Giron in September showed America once again that one determined person can inspire determination in others, and ultimately make a difference.
Giron is now out of a job, and Colorado voters in her district, and that of fellow anti-gun Democrat Sen. John Morse, fired a political bow shot heard ‘round the world. The message was simple and lawmakers all over the American landscape have taken notice: If you vote against a constitutionally-enumerated fundamental civil right, there are consequences.
The newspapers have called this recall campaign a classic case of “David versus Goliath” because head not only faced awesome resistance from a political machine that had the financial backing of anti-gun New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, state Democrats and anti-gunners from all over the nation, but also from people in his own Republican party, and from a high-profile Colorado-based gun rights activist.
By some accounts, pro-Democrat groups spent some $3 million to keep Giron and Morse in office. That would mean they outspent recall supporters many times over.
The recall of any public official is a monumental undertaking, and many such efforts have failed, sometimes miserably. Recall campaigns can get ugly, personal and financially devastating, and it takes something special to champion a cause, see it through and win.
Twenty-nine-year-old Victor Head appears to have what it takes, and then some. In March, after Colorado Democrats rammed through extremist gun control measures, Head emerged as one of many Centennial State gun owners who had had enough, and he has become something of an icon among conservative organizations that promote grassroots activism.
A native of Pueblo, he runs a plumbing operation with his brother, Adam. Both had lived out of state for a while, but returned to be with their parents and siblings, landing right in the middle of history.
As he told it to Point Blank, Victor is a recreational shooter and Adam is the hunting enthusiast. Between them, they own several firearms, and Colorado’s new laws make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to share guns back and forth. Head even has concerns that his girlfriend could not legally use his Remington Model 870 shotgun for home defense if the need arises.
That inability to legally loan or borrow firearms, he explained in a telephone interview, was the catalyst for his activism.
As the Colorado Observer noted in a profile of Head’s effort, the plumber “had virtually nothing: No money, no college degree, no support from national or state gun-rights groups, and probably no clue as to what he was getting himself into.”
That sounds like a description that could fit a lot of Americans who stand up when the need arises. During the course of his political summer, Victor observed a birthday and so did his brother, but they couldn’t celebrate until after the election, and then they really had something to celebrate.
Against the odds, Victor Head’s effort demonstrated that angry citizens can fire the people they hire to represent their interests, even when those interests involve gun rights, a subject that is none too popular with the mainstream press.
Political pundits gave Giron slight odds of success, figuring that she would squeak through and emerge the victor, even if by the proverbial skin of her teeth.
When the votes were counted, she took what many might call a political drubbing, losing in her heavily-Democratic Third District by 56 to 44 percent. What this proved is that Democrats are not all anti-gunners, and they can be just as ferocious about defending their gun rights when push comes to shove.
“Little people” aren’t so little, after all. What Victor Head demonstrated in Colorado is that when politicians turn a deaf ear to the concerns of their constituents, the voters can crank up the volume. The noise they make is like the sound of a freight train that no amount of money from a New York mayor can derail.
All it takes is for someone to climb into the engineer’s seat. Victor Head stepped forward and because of that, he’s our Gun Rights Defender of the Month.