Live capitol feed today?

[Thunder71]

that was a great presentation, as was the testimony by the older man about his son.

Agreed, and we still have 30 minutes left... proud of all of our representation today, thank you.

[commonguy001]

Been watching this while home at lunch
First - thank you for posting the link
Second - These guys are doing an excellent job defending our rights, I'm proud of everyone who has taken the time to step up and present our side in a professional way.

[Paul]

Nice job today guys.

[UpNorthSavage]

How many Dflers on the committee walked out?

[St. Olaf]

I listened to this and it worked great!

Thanks to all.

Great, respectful and informative testimony!!!

[kollector03]

How many Dflers on the committee walked out?

I would hope none if them did as they are charged to hold these committee hearings to determine if a proposed bill has merit to bring to the full senate for a vote.

If they walk out and then give it a green light to a full senate vote, they are derelict in their duties and should be held accountable to the voters.

[UpNorthSavage]

According to the Rep lady on the council and her last comments some of the committee members walked out before the professor was finished at least.

[Thunder71]

How many Dflers on the committee walked out?

All the ones that pooped their pants after seeing real guns.

[Josh189]

Does anyone know if this was recorded to view at a later time?

[JustPlainT]

Great work guys. It's still an uphill battle, but we definitively proved to anyone who was watching with a rational, open mind that we are in the right.

Now, to see how many people noticed or care....

Keep up the pressure on the reps!

[JJ]

Some highlights from last night:

http://youtu.be/IGMZrSfWulM

[drharm]

Does anyone know if this was recorded to view at a later time?

The hearings from yesterday morning and evening are already posted, in full, on the YouTube MNHouseInfo page.

Today's hearings should be posted on the YouTube MNHouseInfo page sometime this afternoon.

Link to MNHouseInfo page:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MNHouseInfo?feature=watch

[BigBlue]

I was there. Just a couple rows back from the anti brigade (side note: she really does look like a witch). First, I was baffled by the testimony of the proponents. Initially, the bill was introduced by the author who read some stereotypical e-mail from someone who was a little dramatic in their depiction of what would happen if their rights were taken away. Then she left to go talk to some school kids at the Ordway (WTF!!??). This left Heather in charge to run the show to describe and promote the bill. Interestingly, the first thing that happened with that was Paymar slapping her for speaking out of turn and acting like she was going to run things. Fortunately she is neither organized nor persuasive in her presentation. Their entire argument centered on "nobody needs these assault weapons" and "think of the kids". They didn't talk at all about the content of the bill or the rationale behind the details within. The FBI guy/private dick was also less than persuasive. He also could not (or refused) to answer any questions posed to him by Cornish or others.

The opponents (our guys) did a great job. The key points were hit: These firearms are used by millions of people. They are used for hunting. There are reasons for their design that are not just "for killing kids faster" (to paraphrase the antis). DPMS rep spoke about the impact to their business if this were passed. They would go out of business instantly. Andrew and Rob's presentation of the 'nice' and 'evil' 10/22s was spectacular. Spot on for what was needed. I thought a bunch of the reps were going to pee themselves when there was mention of actual firearms being in the room. (By the way guys, great job on not sweeping anyone and presenting in a very professional manner.) The father who talked about his kid being shot but still liking guns and why they should not be taken away was moving. We really pissed off the committee with our clapping for these portions. Cornish had to tell us we should stop. Great points were made such as that this bill would impose severe restrictions on semi auto firearms that are not even done today for full auto class III weapons - annual renewal, background re-checks, fees, in-home inspection, restrictions on where they could be possessed.

We have some reps on this committee that are definitely skeptical of the bills. Newberger and Uglem come to mind. Cornish, obviously. Plus a lady on the right I couldn't see the nameplate for. Interestingly, I didn't hear any reps, other than the author, taking a strong pro stand about the bill or asking questions of the opponents. My first hope is that there is so little support for the bill that it just goes nowhere. Barring that, the other hope is that it is so irrational and inconsistent with other laws & practices that it gets poked full of holes.

Finally, and this is not a new revelation to me but it was reinforced today, antis are a special breed of people. People who work hard to take something away from other people have a very unique mindset and a way of justifying their actions almost solely based on emotion instead of fact. I've seen this in other areas of society as well. Those 'for' keeping these guns legal have facts, logic, reasons, and emotion. The antis have groundless facts and a ton of emotion. They seriously need a good hobby to redirect their nervous energy. Perhaps they could take up shooting sports.

BB

[2in2out]

... They seriously need a good hobby to redirect their nervous energy. Perhaps they could take up shooting sports.

BB

I actually think that would convert a lot of these people.

Representative Kieffer, I think, is the representative that you're trying to find a name for, BigBlue.

[sawgrass]

BigBlue now we can see if you and Wrench make the Iron Range news.
You both did a great job with the reporter. Your words were spot on.

It was nice standing in line for nearly three hours with you.