Senator Tom Brewer
43rd District
2-28-2020

Several of my fellow senators said they were “terrified” by their fellow Nebraskans who open-carried a gun into the Capitol for gun control bill hearings last week
I have found from personal experience most of the senators in Nebraska’s legislature to be intelligent, well-balanced people, regardless of their politics. There have been armed citizens in that building every day since it was built. With just one or two exceptions, I do not believe my fellow senators are personally afraid of guns.
It must be something else that terrifies them.

Screaming people wearing pink hats and delivering bloody Barbie dolls to your office does not scare them. Loud activists dressed up in phallic costumes do not seem to set off any alarm bells. But a stranger with a gun really sends some of them over the deep end.

As far as safety was concerned, capitol security and the State Patrol were informed well in advance of this event that some people might choose to open carry. They provided additional manpower, and they were prepared for far more people to open carry than actually showed up. Only two people at the event chose to bring rifles. Their rights were respected.

Let me acquaint folks with exactly who these strangers with guns actually are. I can tell you, because I am a gun guy myself.

The Second Amendment has been under ever-increasing attack all of my life. Citizens like me who try to defend it are hyper-vigilant to ensure we do absolutely nothing to damage this cause. That’s why the four hundred or more people who came into the Capitol were careful to be respectful, polite, and patient. They didn’t scream obscenities like the other side did. They did not leave so much as an empty coffee cup behind.

These are citizens of our state. And they are people who took the initiative to take time off of work, only to stand in line for several hours for a 90 second opportunity to be heard on a proposed law. That shows a dedication to civic duty that I respect.

Many of these people also happen to be highly trained and skilled with firearms. There were gun store owners and competitive shooters in the crowd. Many of them were veterans. They have a passion for the safe and appropriate use of guns. These people also have a passion for the American way of life. And they stand up for our constitutional rights like few others manage to do.

I hope my colleagues realize that if you have to be around a stranger with a gun, you could not pick a safer group of people than were in the Capitol last week. To say these people make the Capitol unsafe assumes they came to the hearing with criminal intent in their hearts. This is as insulting as it is ignorant.

Please contact my office with any comments, questions or concerns. Email me at tbrewer@leg.ne.gov. Mail a letter to; Sen. Tom Brewer, Room #1101, P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509 or call us at (402) 471-2628.