Time is NOT on our Side... No matter what the Stones say.

All right, it says I'm live. Oh, and I've got guests! How exciting! All right, hold on, I can throw you up here, dude, if I can figure out how to do this. I don't know, I'm gonna go wide. Ta-da! Although he's still muted, so anyway, all right, so I am— I'm— I don't know, I'll figure out how to do this. I, I, it feels like We're supposed to do that. Ooh, whoever's talking gets up, but I don't go back and forth all that well. So, all right. So what did I name this? Something like Time Is Not on Our Side. Yes, it always makes me think of the Rolling Stones song. I'm not going to sing to you guys. That would just be mean. So anyway, um, hi everyone. Uh, my name is Brooke Cheney. I am back, Fiona. Oh wait, hold on. I gotta do this because I forget I'm on Facebook, I'm on YouTube, and I'm on two Facebook accounts right now. So, um, yeah, I am back. This is my second live today. I've been coaching people for the last, uh, well, I did 2 hours of coaching today for helping people write testimony regarding the bills that are coming up in Connecticut on Monday that are being heard by the Judiciary Committee here in Connecticut. Um, they are super bad bills. They are trying to make gun owners felons. They are trying very hard to shut down every gun store that is in Connecticut. And I need everyone to be as excited or disgusted or as afraid as I currently am. And everybody reach one person to ask them if they've written in for their testimony. If they need help, I am here for many hours. I did 2 hours today. I'm going to doing 2 hours tomorrow at noon and 1. And this is why I'm gonna make barbecue talk now. So barbecue and I came up with this idea that, um, I'm gonna do another show with him and a couple other folks, maybe, but definitely with him. Wait, I'll go like this. With him. Um, and we're gonna talk about what barbecue— you, you came off mute, but you were too fast. So 1:30 Eastern tomorrow.

Yes, and I figured we could talk about everything that's happening with these bills that are being introduced in Connecticut because, uh, as I told you, uh, you know, just, uh, moments ago, I have not heard about these. Uh, you know, everybody's been so wrapped up in what's going on with Ohio, Indiana, Nebraska, Alabama all those states that are trying to get constitutional carry, what's going on with Washington and, you know, their magazine ban and them almost passing an assault weapons ban and expanding gun-free zones and everything like that. For some reason, this has flown under the radar. And with what you guys are facing, it sounds absolutely terrible. And the fact that it's flying under the radar is Beyond me.

Yeah, so Fiona's gonna write her testimony tomorrow. Um, and yeah, it's all of that stuff rolled into one. Not only are they— um, oh wait, okay, so David, does that mean— wait, so David— sorry, squirrel. This is the problem with like, you know, looking at the stuff. David works at the gun store here in Waterbury, Connecticut, and, um I will definitely talk to you, David. I'm assuming about testimony. Like I said, we're going to be on here tomorrow, 1:30, to talk about lots of pieces. I know a lot of people are intimidated by actually writing their, um, um, just because they've never done it. Uh, David thinks it's under the radar because he announced it a month ago, and the bill that we're talking about that's coming out is is the governor's bill, and it is, uh, it's 50 pages long and it has 34 sections in it, and it's called the Gun Violence Prevention and, uh, what the heck is it called? Gun Violence Prevention and Juvenile Crime, uh, an act addressing gun violence and juvenile crime. Hold on, I'll pull it up for y'all if I can get my stuff together here. Um, so this is it. So wait, did I do that right? Yeah, okay, sorry, I just put that over here and we'll try that again. Um, this is why I need Barbecue to actually run the thing for me, or maybe DJ. But, uh, gun violence prevention in 50 pages, 34 sections. Uh, there's 2 sections in that 34 sections Um, oh yeah. And already having the hearing, the hearing is on Monday. And here's the other sneaky thing that they kind of did, which I don't know, um, how to explain it well, but basically they put it in as a, uh, a budget item because one of the first things in the Act Addressing Gun Violence is money to to go towards police to, um, to promote or to, to give to the police for the gun violence task force, which is getting actual illegal guns, because goodness knows there's enough rules out there to make most guns illegal, um, off the streets. So it got in under budgeting. Let's see, Dave said, yeah, we've been selling lowers like crazy, work on Sundays. The issues we're having, it's massive delays with state being overloaded. And here in Connecticut, I don't know what it's like out in Pennsylvania, barbecue., but it takes forever for our gun shops to actually get through, to actually be able to sell guns.

I know I just picked up a new firearm on Saturday. Now, normally when I go pick anything up, um, wherever I go, they're always amazed. They're like, man, that was like instant. I'm like, yeah, apparently I got a really clean record. I don't know. Um, however, when I went in Saturday Uh, took about 20 minutes. So, uh, the system has been a little backed up as of late. I'm not sure if that has to do with anything, uh, with the ongoing conflict over with Russia and Ukraine, where people are on a bit of a buying spree. Because, uh, I remember, I think it was January was the lowest amount of background checks done since, uh, pre-COVID. Yeah, so, uh, we were definitely in— going back into a slump, but, uh, it might have ramped back up given current, uh, political environment.

Yeah, no, I mean, I know here in Connecticut that the gun owners or the gun store owners, um, yeah, 20 minutes would be cool. Um, 1.5 hours wait times, it's like absolutely insane and crazy. So, hey, PN. Yeah, I mean, a lot of— yeah, a lot of them, they're like 45 minutes if they're— they're on hold. Like, they're literally— um, David, like I said, he works at one of the bigger gun stores in the area, but even like the little guys, they've got like 3 phones running trying to even get through. Yeah, so we, CCDL, actually, yeah, let me, let me get back to reviewing a little bit of why we're here. Time's against us. CCDL is our Connecticut Citizens Defense League. If you're not on their list, if you don't have their emails, go sign up for their emails so you can get the legislative alerts. But CCDL actually spearheaded a lawsuit last year for gun stores. As far as, you know, the 45 minutes, the hour and a half to be able to get through is just ridiculous. So, so the 15 minutes, that is a result of CCDL's work of helping gun stores get together and take on the state. So yay for 2A Together. So Time's against us. We have to reach as many people as possible. Barbecue here is going to help me do that tomorrow by expanding who this is all going out with. Um, should we invite him too?

So now, um, are people able to write testimonies on more than one topic, or are they limited to just one testimony?

So everyone can write as many pieces of testimony as they like. However, the suggestion is always one page. So for example, in my coaching sessions that I did earlier today, um, my 7 to 8, we were talking about the CCVL. Now let me see if I can do this proper, like, so when I share the screen it doesn't go crazy. Um, If we look at what we're talking about today, right? So, uh, there's 5 different, um, bills we're talking about. So SB 16 is the really, really bad one from our governor. Uh, the, um, HB 5416 is the one gun a month thing, which is just absolutely ridiculous. Um, and then we've got 3 that we're actually supporting, which is concerning the defense of a person. It's, it's the right to stand your ground, basically, as well as being able to transfer stuff. So you could write in saying, I support SB 388, HB 5415, and HB 5412, and I oppose SB 16 and HB 5416. So you can write in, um, As simple as that. It doesn't have to be crazy difficult or extensive. Now, the one that I helped write earlier today, what we did was we did, um, you know, we said supported the first 3, just said, dear, uh, Judiciary Committee, I support these 3 bills. However, I oppose SB 16, and this is why. And then that was the majority of their testimony. So, um, the idea is one page because that's what it'll get read. It's not that you can't write Moby Dick, but they're not going to read Moby Dick. So the idea is, um, and you know, I'll go back to, uh, DC Project, which is education, not legislation, is that we want them to at least think about what they're doing and why they're doing it. So does that answer your question, Barbecue? I'm sorry, I kind of went on a lot.

No, that's fine. Yeah, that, uh, answered it actually, uh, really well because, uh, that made me think back to when we just had those commentaries a year ago. Um, you know, when I was writing in, I wrote 130 comments on the redefinition of a firearm and receiver alone, just 130 comments for that one alone. That doesn't count what I wrote in for the pistol brace. I think I wrote another 60 or 70 for the pistol brace, if I remember correctly. But, so with the way I started all of those was I'm writing in, not support, but against these rule proposals. So, you know, if it was this case, I say, hey, I'm writing in against whatever bills these are. I can't think of it. And say, you know, because gun-free zones, yada yada yada. And I try to make a paragraph. So, and by the sounds of it, there's plenty to write in here about. So people have the time, you know, writing a paragraph takes a couple minutes. They could easily knock out 5, 6, 7 of these in a 15-minute time period.

Right. And the idea is that everybody sends at least one, um, is our ultimate goal. I'm sorry, I was looking for— oh yeah, there it is. Um, so let's go back because like I'm trying to keep up with this. Uh, good evening. So apparently PN is calling me blind because he's saying the blind leading the blind. Um, And David likes to shorten to the point of just say what you want. Right. All right. So, but I wanted to get to Fiona's thing. Should we be mailing our state reps and state senators as well as district committee? And the answer is absolutely yes, 100%. If you go to the CCDL alert, I'm going to show this to you guys again if I can do it proper. Like, hold on. I'm just gonna show you that versus me and barbecue. So, um, the action alert, if you just scroll down here a little bit, it'll show you what we're, um, for and against. And when I say we, I mean we as gun owners. I am not talking on behalf of CCDL. But what it wants you to do is you want to make sure your testimony goes to judicialtestimony@cga.gov. Or.ct.gov. And also, you want to make sure that you are copying your state senators and your state reps. And if there's any reason that you don't know what they are, again, CCL is being super helpful here. All you have to do is click on Find Your Legislator and put in your town, your street name, and your number, and it will show you who is your legislator. So, um, I don't know, I'll put in, but that's how easy it is. So just find who they are. Now, one of the things when I was helping with someone earlier today, the challenge with this is once you get to your, um, to your senator or to your representative, chances are they're just going to be, um, a list, right? And when you click on them, I'll go to mine, which is Henry Martin. Oh, if I'm in the wrong place though. But anyway, you'll go here. It doesn't even matter who it is. When you click on them, on their names, usually what happens is you're brought to a contact page, which apparently this is of course not, not, not working. Um, because I'm trying to show you something. Ha! But, um, so yeah, do what you can. And not trying to show you my emails. Um, but see, look, DJ's talking to me. So yeah, definitely email your state reps and state senators. What I was going to try to say is if you don't already have your state reps' emails, when you go to those websites, what's going to happen is that you're going to have to fill out a form and just copy and paste the email and testimony that you already wrote into the form that they have. And, um, And yeah, you're, um, knowing yours, Craig Miner and J. Case. Yes, and Craig Miner is— this is his last term. He's retiring, uh, for our upcoming, uh, whatever that's called, election cycle that we have. All right, Barbecue, is there anything else we said we're going to talk about that I didn't talk about yet?

I think you pretty much covered it. And, uh, the only thing I was going to mention was, hey, copy and paste that when you contact your representatives, but you nailed that one too. So, uh, I think you hit everything that you wanted to hit.

All right, uh, so invitations tomorrow on Facebook I have— well, sorry, on Zoom and Facebook I have some events on, uh, at noon if you want help personally with any testimony. I'm happy to help. I'll be on Zoom from noon to 1, and at 6 PM I'm gonna put another hour aside and Guns and Barbecue and I might decide that I'm gonna do this live like this. But if you want help running testimony, let me know. And then at 1:30, Guns and Barbecue, myself, and who knows what other special guests we may have are gonna pop on here and try to bring Connecticut a little more attention when it comes to this. So, CCDL is asking you to reach out. A Great Start Shooting School is asking you to reach out. DCProject.info. We need to get everybody aware and up and running and get people to testify and understand what's going on. So, oh wait, did you already see that? Did I drink out of it? Because, you know, it is, it is awesome. Even when you have COVID, it's a great place to put your tea. All right, barbecue, we're really done now. I'll stop talking, I swear.

And say, if you want, you can be fancy and drop the link out there and people can just pop into the after chat. Uh, if you're that fancy.

I don't know how to do that. That's something you and DJ still have to figure me— figure me out for. Yeah, help me figure out. I'll get it figured out. Yeah, maybe for tomorrow you can, you can school me on that. Sounds good. So yeah, and as far as finding out the Zoom links and stuff, just go to Facebook, A Great Start Shooting School, and go to events. I suppose I can at least drop the link to my, uh, Great Start Shooting School, um, even though half the people are watching on Facebook. But yeah, no. All right, hon, thank you for your help, and good night everyone. And, uh, reach out to your gun stores if they don't already have something up. Make sure everybody's talking about this. Have a lovely rest of your evening, which is only Thursday, and I will see you tomorrow again on Friday. See everybody. All right, bye.