Sara Goes to the Capitol

I guess after today you can officially call me an activist. With Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, I went to the Arizona State Capitol for Lobby Day as a gun violence prevention advocate. There were nearly one hundred of us in attendance and it was--hopefully--a productive event as we met with our representatives and senators to encourage them to vote no to four dangerously ridiculous gun bills.

As part of the organizational team, I was a greeter. I stood outside the old Capitol building as people arrived and pointed them in the right direction to our registration table. I also smiled at everyone else who passed by, even the two men proudly openly carrying their weapons in their holsters who so clearly wanted to rattle me. They went inside and walked around the museum next to fourth graders on a field trip. And according to Arizona law, that is acceptable and perfectly fine. I guess they were "good guys with guns," but you know that one never can tell. They weren't wearing white hats or anything, just smug faces.

me at my greeter post outside the Capitol

Once everyone arrived, we were trained on how to speak effectively with our legislators and given packets to share with the representatives and senators from our respective legislative districts. My district was represented by me, my friend Susanne, and a former Methodist reverend. Unfortunately, our senator never responded to Moms Demand Action's request to meet, and one of our representatives had cancelled our noon meeting. We did, however, have a meeting scheduled with our other representative at 1:00. So we prepared our discussion, who was going to say or ask what, had lunch, and then headed to the House.

When we announced our arrival to the attendant, Rep. Mesnard (who has a 93% NRA approval rating) was not able to meet with us after all as he had been called into a budget meeting. How convenient for him; how inconvenient for me. I'd taken the day off from work and driven to Phoenix fully expecting to be able to share my concerns with the people who make important decisions regarding the safety of my family and me.

Oh, Sara. How naive. How naive! I could say it was a wasted day, but it was honestly a reality check.

You only get to meet with your representatives and senators if you're lucky or if they're in a good mood or if they want to meet with you or if you come from an organization that pays them a lot of money or if the stars are aligned just perfectly...or maybe there is no rhyme or reason. Appointments mean nothing at the Capitol. Who knew? More important--who is voting for these inconsiderate people? Not me. However, one owns our favorite Italian restaurant. Correction: our former favorite Italian restaurant. Not only does no one ever answer his office phone (callers always must leave a message), but he consistently votes yes on nonsensical bills like allowing concealed weapons in public buildings (such as libraries) unless they have metal detectors (like his comfy office at the Capitol). You protect yourself, Jeff Weninger, but care not at all about your constituents' safety. That's hypocrisy at its worst.

Though I didn't get to speak today, I left strongly worded letters for all three of those men for whom I've never voted.

Despite my disappointment at not getting to talk to them in person, I am still glad I went. If anything, maybe by sharing my experience with other average people just like me who believe politicians really do listen to the people they are paid to represent, I'll be able to wake up more voters. It doesn't have to feel like such a lost cause. If more people understand how corrupt and irresponsible these people in office are--and I think people are starting to wake up to this lately--we can fix so many issues. At the very least, we could collectively start steering our state in the right direction. It starts with voting-in the correct people, and so many of these people are so wrong.