U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Democrat Arizona state Senator Lupe Contreras—the assistant minority leader—is being criticized for reacting to the concerns of a female citizen speaking in support of legislation to expand her gun rights, by telling the woman that if she’s fearful of attack she should “Stay home behind closed doors.”
In her presentation, activist Lauren Snyder explained she was born with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which she described on her blog as “a rare connective tissue disorder caused by a genetic mutation.”
“My level of ability changes daily; some days I need mobility aids such as a cane or braces and sometimes I don’t,” she wrote. “Some days I wake up feeling okay but can end up needing a wheelchair. I never know what to expect and as a result, must always be prepared for the worst. This logic also applies to self-defense.”
A victim of sexual assault and domestic violence, Snyder was limited to 90 seconds to speak in support of HB 2316, which would allow people with concealed carry licenses to carry firearms into a public building. But Sen. Contreras’ reaction was stunning, according to critics who spoke with Ammoland News.
“I’ve said many times I’m a gun owner, I’m a hunter,” Contreras stated. “And I’m, a proud Democrat. Um, I don’t need to carry my gun on me at all times to feel safe. I don’t. I don’t walk around, run around and drive around worried about ‘somebody’s going to shoot me’ or somebody’s going to hurt me. Or somebody’s going to do whatever. Why even walk around at that point? Stay home behind closed doors.
“So, I mean,” he continued, “I do understand that, yeah, it is a right that we have, but some people, some people just, just don’t have that right; some people just shouldn’t have that right. And with that I vote no.”
AmmoLand reached out to Sen. Contreras for comment, but so far, he has not returned our call.
Cheryl Todd, widely known in Arizona as the host of “Gun Freedom Radio” told Ammoland this was Snyder’s first trip to the capitol to testify on legislation. She was astonished at the senator’s remarks.
“He’s an able-bodied male,” Todd observed, “but Lauren has disabilities. She can’t run away… He could not have been more tone deaf.”
Todd felt his remarks were “dismissive” and “arrogant.”
While the senator’s reaction to Snyder is considered flippant by critics, it was his remark that “some people just shouldn’t have that right” which seems to be hitting the rawest of nerves.
In her blog report, Snyder wrote, “Filled with disgust from the arrogant remarks made by Senator Contreras, I knew I couldn’t say anything so I got up and made my way to the vacant seat located right in front of him. That seemed to speak volumes in itself because he immediately began to backpedal and said, ‘Ma’am, you can sit there and stare at me all you want, I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about things in general.’ Contreras then proceeded to say, ‘There’s a lot of things that happen in the world, but you can’t run around scared all the time.’ His closing statement was, ‘I do understand that, yeah, it is a right that we have, but some people just don’t have that right and some people just shouldn’t have that right.’
“How could he not be talking about me,” Snyder asked rhetorically. “He was talking about every person who carries a firearm to protect themselves, which of course, included me. This also includes marginalized groups and minorities such as those in the LGTBQ+ community, people of color and disabled people who have every right to defend themselves. This right shall not be infringed, especially when the excuse is that he does not feel worried, so no one else should.”
Todd is not going to let this pass.
“If I have anything to say about it, it will…come back to haunt him,” she said. “His district is where my places of business are located.”
The bill eventually passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee 5-3 along party lines and was sent to the Rules committee.
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
Hey DW,
I just finished your article in May’s “GUNS Magazine” pp 64-5. Good article, it makes me hopeful, and the writing was very … “Workman like”!!! I have been wanting to make that pun for a while, now!
It is a right that we have. Period.
No uppity and arrogant lefty is going to stop me, no matter how they all vote. They cannot vote away our rights.
Out of the mouth of someone who belongs to the party that wants to defund the police, you should be able to carry a firearm everywhere you go.
Vote the jerk out.
Somewhere, a village has found it’s idiot.
I love reading Ammoland articles and watching the video that’s posted from time to time. That said, I wish I had never watched this creepy democrat spew his rhetoric about him being a fking HUNTER and gun owner. He says we have the right, and some people don’t, I believe he means only democrats “like him” have the 2A right. How do these people come to the conclusion that the 2A should be a privilege?
what a condescending piece of shit he is. listen to what he says at 0:58. obviously he does not know what a right is, or maybe he doesn’t know how to read well, or has poor reading comprehension. remember, he is of the party that will let men compete against women when they can’t win against other men, will demand your child get an experimental vaccine to fight a virus that is negligibly harmful to them, will demand we stop using petroleum based fuel to save the planet without real facts to prove it, and will insult women who want… Read more »
OK. I agree that some people should not have that right. Start the list with Contreras, Robby-Francis, Chipman and “Brandon”.
Lets take away Lupe’s security force at his job and see if he changes his mind about self protection . Pretty easy to run his mouth while he hides behind armed security most of the time . Typical brain dead liberal with nothing to offer freedom loving people but rhetoric !
Democrats want everybody to stay home behind closed doors.
Another democratic Lupe telling somebody what rights he is willing allow regardless of the constitution. Following party lines not the will of the people do as I say not as I do ,must be the democrats secret otah.
When I hear a Anti-civil Rights tyrant like Contreras say, “I even own a gun” it sounds an awful lot like “I even have a black friend” to me.