Proponents of the Second Amendment gathered Saturday in front of the Arizona Capitol building to demonstrate their passion for guns and gun ownership.
“We are out here joining together as American citizens just to celebrate our freedoms,” said Cheryl Todd, the master of ceremonies for the event and the owner of Gun Freedom Radio.
This afternoon event included a motorcycle procession along with 12 speakers ranging from a member of the Arizona House of Representatives to a professor from ASU.
One of the speakers was Dr. Lance Hurley, clad in a Patrick Henry costume. Hurley has been portraying Patrick Henry for 29 years. He chose Patrick Henry because “he was a dynamic speaker, a lot of people respected him and he kind of led the way as far as founding the militia.” He said came to the event because he firmly believes in the Second Amendment.
Another speaker, Brandon Tatum, talked about reaching the next generation and getting young people involved with the cause. At the end of his speech, he called for Americans to “build that wall” and explained the connection between border security and gun control.
“There is a lot of guns being brought into our country from the southern border illegally. In order to combat gun violence – and I think that we all want to combat it – we have to start by being methodical with where the guns and where the violence is really coming from,” Tatum said. “The problems aren’t coming from American citizens who lawfully own firearms. The problems are coming from people bringing guns into our country and illegal people or people who are criminals are getting access to guns.”
Tatum wasn’t the only one expressing a pro-Trump sentiment. There was a handful of people wearing the signature red MAGA hat and two people were carrying large flags with Trump’s name on them.
Rich Hale, a flag carrier, said he always brings his flag to events like this and hasn’t had a negative reaction.
“I carry my Trump flag with me because he’s my president and he’s pushing forth the agenda that I believe in. Everybody has a life, and sometimes you can’t always be in certain places to get a flag like this, so I was glad to get mine and I’m glad to display it,” said Hale. “This is the America that I believe in. I believe in God-given rights codified by American law and even if we didn’t have the law, God still gave me those rights.”
One of the booths sold t-shirts, hats, buttons and stickers that had the president’s likeness or campaign slogan on it, although all of the proceeds from this booth went to Artcraft, a local business, according to one of the booth workers.
Attendees had the opportunity to register to vote or to talk with some of the political groups in the area about their stances on gun control or their own policy ideals.
“It’s important overall for everyone to know their rights, all of their rights, especially for women on college campuses or just young women in general. Being able to have the right to protect yourself… is a really empowering tool,” said Mackenzie Angelo from Turning Point USA, a group aiming to introduce college students to a right-wing approach to public policy.
The event itself was nonpartisan, according to Kim Bishop, the director of PR and marketing for the three groups that ran the event: Bikers USA, Gun Freedom Radio and Pot of Gold Estate Liquidations.
“This is a wholesome patriotic event. We wanted to invite the entire community so that people could hear from the experts in the firearm industry and ask those questions, we are really wanting to reach out to the people that are in that middle space that are on the fence. We are not looking for all Republicans or all gun owners; we’re just looking for people that have an interest,” she said.
Children were also encouraged to go to one of the booths run by the three supporting groups and learn about being safe around firearms.
“We are teaching kids and parents how to properly use firearms. We have pamphlets and gun locks in order to show kids that it is okay to be around firearms as long as you use them properly,” said Kendall Deforrest, who was working a booth.
Children and parents had the opportunity to sign up for Eddie the Eagle classes in Phoenix, the National Rifle Association’s mascot and firearm safety program. They could also take a gun lock or a toy squirt gun.
Other groups that attended the event included Justice League Arizona, which was canvassing for the Arizona Cannabis Justice Act, an act aiming to decriminalize cannabis and provide post-conviction relief for those with related charges. They were at the event because the act included protections for the Second Amendment rights of those charged with cannabis-related crimes.
“Because of discrimination between federal laws and state laws, it does make it challenging for even medical marijuana patients to have gun rights in the state of Arizona, or anywhere. And since we included Second Amendment freedoms in our initiative we thought this would be the ideal place and it has been,” said Stacy Theis, a canvasser with the organization.
“Ain’t nothing like getting the government’s attention like standing in front of them with a bunch of guns,” said Jim S., an attendee who did not want to provide his last name. “Also, it fosters a community. You meet people, and you exchange ideas. We’re not cookie cutter, we’re all different.”
Contact the reporter at nhthomps@asu.edu.
