Republican Colorado county commissioner candidate Thomas Ready received a death threat on Facebook after he posted a link suggesting the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax, according to Reuters.

Ready posted a comment on Facebook during a debate with rival Democratic incumbent Sal Pace on Friday. During the exchange, Pace said Ready posted a link on his Facebook and claimed the Sandy Hook shooting, which claimed the lives of 20 children, was a hoax engineered by the government in support of its gun control initiative.

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Ready argued that there are still others who doubt whether the shooting really happened.

He said there was one photo of a man whose daughter had died; he appeared to be happy and was joking and smiling.

"[But] when he walked into the room, he turned and all of a sudden, had tears in his eyes," Ready said, questioning the man's quick shift in emotion.

After the debate, Ready said he did not specifically remember posting the link.

Ready, a 70-year-old dentist and first time political candidate denied being a conspiracy theorist, but claimed he often posts thought-provoking topics online to stimulate open discussion.

He said he knows the massacre happened, adding that he had grandchildren of his own and referred to the shooting as a "terrible, terrible tragedy."

Democratic incumbent Pace said that while Ready's actions were reprehensible and belittled the pain of the victims' families, the death threat against Ready was similarly "inappropriate."

Meanwhile, Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Rick Palacio called on GOP leaders to condemn Ready's comments, calling them irresponsible, asinine and conspiratorial.

Twenty children and six adults were killed on Dec. 2012 after 20-year-old Adam Lanza went on a shooting rampage in Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut.

The tragedy has spurred Democratic lawmakers to pass a series of gun control laws amid GOP opposition. It led to the recall of two Democratic officials, one of whom was Sen. Angela Giron from Pueblo.

TagsThomas Ready, Pueblo County, Sal Pace, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Angela Giron, colorado, Adam Lanza, Rick Palacio, gun control