The Obama administration is surveying sites to determine which would best house terrorists currently detained at Guantanamo Bay, and according to the publication Defense One, the penitentiary in Florence is on that list.

Another site in earlier studies was the “supermax” in Florence, Colo. It already holds one former Gitmo detainee who was transferred to New York for trial and convicted. “That complex makes sense to go see,” the official said.

U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton and Sen. Cory Gardner denounced the inclusion of Colorado, and pledged to do everything in their power to prevent a Gitmo transfer to Florence.

“That this reckless and irresponsible idea is being considered at all by officials in the Obama Administration shows a careless disregard for the safety and security of Coloradans,” Gardner said in a statement.

Added Tipton: “Transferring some of the world’s most dangerous terrorists to our backyard places a target on Colorado.”

Obama made a campaign promise to close Gitmo, and as his administration comes to a close next year it makes sense that the process has begun anew to fulfill that pledge. We suspect the timing will coincide with the 2016 presidential election, when the political fallout will become someone else’s problem.