Father of Slain Boulder Police Officer Says He Would Be ‘Deeply Offended’ by Gun Control Proposals

Officer Eric Talley in a file photo. Courtesy of Boulder Police Department via AP

The father of the Colorado police officer who was killed in the line of duty during a mass shooting in a Boulder supermarket this week said his late son would be “deeply offended” by largely Democratic-led proposals to push gun control.

“My son would have been deeply offended to know his death would be used to promote gun control. Before he was an officer, he enjoyed shooting,” Homer Talley told TMZ about his son, officer Eric Talley. “To take away that freedom completely is something I am against and my son was against.”

Eric Talley, who worked at the Boulder Police Department for 11 years, was killed on March 22 when a shooter, identified by police as Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, opened fire at a King Soopers market. Nine other people were killed, and Alissa was charged with 10 counts of murder before a judge on March 25 ordered that he be held without bail.

Talley added that “just because some wacko goes around shooting people doesn’t mean guns need to be taken away. You can’t take away enough guns to protect this country.”

A GoFundMe has been created to raise money for Talley’s family, and more than $600,000 has been donated as of the morning of March 25.

In the aftermath of the Boulder shooting and fatal shootings at Atlanta-area spas, top Democrats, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, have proposed more legislation including a ban on “assault weapons.”

“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take commonsense steps that will save lives in the future,” Biden said this week.

“It should not be a partisan issue. This is an American issue,“ he said. ”It will save lives, American lives. We have to act.”

Later, White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested to reporters that Biden could issue an executive order related to gun control, although she didn’t specify any details.

Harris, however, told CBS News that the White House likely won’t use executive action to enact gun control measures.

“We should first expect the U.S. Congress to act,” Harris stated.

Some Republicans have pushed back against the proposals.

“Every time there’s a shooting, we play this ridiculous theater where this committee gets together and proposes a bunch of laws that would do nothing to stop these murders,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said on March 23 during a hearing.

Meanwhile, the House this month passed two bills pertaining to firearms background checks. However, if they reach the Senate, the bills would likely have to clear the 60-vote filibuster hurdle.

The other victims were identified as Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Teri Leiker, 51; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jodi Waters, 65.