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!
Thanks always for your kind remarks, and for reading my screed wherever it appears…ESPECIALLY here at AMMOLAND.
As always, feel free to share this link all over the place.
Thx for reading!
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.
The elitists are trying to quietly change the definition of what a Right is. A Right is a shield that the government can not get around, over, or through. A Right stops government in its tracks. A Right makes us the equal of government and is one of the checks and balances of the Constitutional scheme.
Elitist judges are trying to say that our Rights must be “balanced” against societies (government’s) interests. See the subtle shift? And they do it without bloodshed or most people’s even knowing about it.
Changing the definition will change everything
Damned straight, as we used to say when I was not in the army.
Not in the army? Well, that is ok, too!
that is the reason they took over education ,so they can change the meanings of words it is another way to change what the history books say, if you cant un-print it change the words meaning so the narrative is changed revolutionary war was a war against British no revolutionary war was a war against their government A Revolt
they will and are trying
the first armor light rifles are select fire and are not military, worth a fortune
Ya mean Armalite? The company?
yes spell check got me , and yes the first ones are 308
and no, no forward assist
Yes, the mischievous little devil is quick, too!
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.
recall election and have yellow paint and feathers ready for him
Somewhere, a village has found it’s idiot.
LOL!
problem is there are way too many like him ,think it must be a mental illness
mental patients can be real loud when off their meds
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 »
Yes, and he is well named … Contreras.
“Condescension” so perfectly describes Liber Progressives in general, and the Demonrat Party in particular.
OK. I agree that some people should not have that right. Start the list with Contreras, Robby-Francis, Chipman and “Brandon”.
Brandon’s already got the double-barreled shotgun that he uses to shoot out of the back door of the white house when he feels threatened.
hunters pistol,atf surely returned it
Yeah, it was in a sealed bag marked “EVIDENCE”.
there is not enough room in this forum to write the list of people that should not have one, it suffices to say EVERY ONE that wants to take others rights should loose theirs that includes leos let them work like the bobbies do
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.
That is funny.
But why do they want everyone to stay cooped up in their homes?
keep them stupid and under control, if you are home alone no one knows what is happening to you and if people do not have social interaction they loose empathy, nasa did a study it was about what it would take to build lunar or mars colony it ended badly
I see.
guess the crypt keeper collects ballots?
they cross their fingers and toes when the take oath of office ,and never say the pledge
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.
stops short of saying slave
If we had people in the justice system who would punish those who prey on the weak, then normal people could move about freely without fear.
It’s people like Contreras who make policies which force us to arm ourselves.
Now they want to take that protection away. I can’t imagine being a woman in public living in fear every time I go out alone, being suspicious of
everyone who approaches or walks behind me. No one can protect you but you, you are the first responder. Democrats are good at creating problems
and then walking away w/o a solution.
I’m so sick of the entire ” I even own a gun, but…” crowd, be they Demoncrat, Republican, Progressive or Conservative. They highlight, in bold text, the damage done by “moderates”.
Im kind of leaning toward requirement that every clear minded person be armed. as in an armed society is a polite one
If everyone were armed, everyday, we’d all have a lot more to talk about with each other. An armed society is a more sociable society!
Hmmm, tough crowd this morning.
Let’s hope his words don’t come back to haunt him and he’s mugged or raped. His was a typical arrogant dem response and shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Lets hope his words DO come back to haunt him. If he survives, he will wake up the next morning a conservstive.
it does not change them anti who was almost car jacked but her armed husband is more anti than before, a how dare they mentality
…”that this healthy big guy does feel he needs to carry a gun”…
You’re assuming that he’s healthy! By admitting he’s “a proud democrat” he obviously is suffering from ‘Brain Dead Syndrome’!
What a dip shot, he needs to stay home, he just proved his ignorance by saying he doesn’t always carry, he’s a big boy and doesn’t need too, but physically weaker people do. Cuntrearas what part of “”the right of the people to keep & bear Arms shall not be infringed.” do you not understand?
What part doesn’t he understand? ALL OF IT! He’s a psychopathic control freak that needs to find a different source of “income”.
Maybe someone should test his manhood
a good carjacking so he is afraid to leave home
with broom stick up his south end
lots of arrogant people in the world, we need more humble people in government
Yes sir very true
Skip cleanliness; humility is next to Godliness.
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely!
Andsome people just shuold not hold public office.And this creep is one of them.
And this article, teh statement by Snyder that “I am a Democrat” shows just how confused the American voting public is on partisan identity their true interest. The Once-democratic party was taken over by the Progressive New Left 40 years ago. The party no longer represents working Americans, the blue collar and the formerly Farmer/Labor rural and urban Christian Conservatives. NO, it represents a toxic mix of the Frankfurt School and confused young white radicals who practice a confused brand of Cultural Marxism. That being said, the Once-democratic party is not the party of individual liberty. Appealing to leftists like… Read more »
Senator Lupe Contreras —> YOUR A ” RICHARD CRANIUM” really – Now that what YOU SAID IS PUBLIC! You WILL BE A “TARGET’ Outside in PUBLIC! And Maybe you Need a Good ARSE WHIPPING/ MUGGING!!! To really feel what it’s like to BE SCARED outside!!!!! This is proof that “ANTI- CONSTITUTIONAL PEOPLE ” = DO NOT BELONG IN “OUR GOV’T”! Period.
I get the impression that when Contrearas said, “some people”, he meant “women”.
any one beneath his social position , women (barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen) ,Latinos cutting grass, all the things they really believe they hate native Americans and are doing everything they can to destroy their society too
Naw, I think he means Gringos, or Republicans, or Conservatives, maybe Blacks but certainly not Illegal Mexicans!
She said she “is a proud democrat “, you get what you vote for.
Hmmm, some how I missed that, Contreras did say he was.
My guess is a Rep. told him to stay home if your scared during the plandemic. lol
im sure he listened to fauci and did as he was told, problem with a mask is it does not change stupid
He is probably parroting what he learned growing up. Many Hispanic families followed the traditional structure wherein the wife stays home and takes care of the kids and the home. As the saying goes, “A woman’s place is in the kitchen.” But he is a macho man who is unafraid of armed criminals. Okey-dokey. Let’s see how that works out when he is staring down the barrel of some drug addict’s gun during an armed robbery.
Lupe is a girl’s name. Maybe his place is in the kitchen.
Kind of like a woman’s place is in the kitchen. Funny how liberals are always the most racist, phobic and misogynistic of the bunch.
The only racists I know are Democrats.
Marxist Democrat *sswipe !!!!
Contreras is a pea-brained political hack whose only reason for being in office is that he is Hispanic and his voters and constituents are even more ignorant and have lower I.Q.s than he does (his is about room temperature on a cold day).
“Legislation to expand her gun rights” No. this is legislation to regain our rights. Until the NFA and the hidden taxes on firearms and ammo are repealed and there is a national recognition of the right to bear arms, everything that we do is regaining what has been given up. Amendment X‘The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.’ By the Federal Government guaranteeing rights, they have delegated that authority to themselves and prohibited the States authority. If this was… Read more »
you should be a supreme court judge
So Contreras says that if this woman is frightened in public she should stay home. Isn’t the right response “If my carrying a gun in public frightens you, perhaps the simplest solution is for you to stay home so that you don’t have to be frightened of peace loving armed people.”
“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.” IT ISN’T A RIGHT IF SOME PSYCHOPATHIC CONTROL FREAK CAN VOTE TO TAKE IT AWAY!
Yes, and that is why this S.Ct. nominee must be defeated. Keep the pressure on those senators!!
Never bring a healthy big guy to a gun fight.
True. What I mean is never go unarmed to a gunfight. He goes mentally unarmed too.
Lupe‘s a girl name. I lived in Latin America & Spain. Never met a dude named Lupe. Transitioning? What was it before he changed it. Loopy?
Thanks. WB’s sock puppet hate posse didn’t like it.