Amy Blackthorn wrote:David wrote:Which hearing are you attending? Most of the committee chairs will only let you discuss the topic of the bill.
I'm testifying in reference to their proposed gun control bills.
There are so many gun bills and they are all separate, for the most part. I haven't looked at that days schedule to even see which bills are up in either the house or senate. As an example the other day that I was there it was SB16 and 18 (both dealing with lost or stolen)though the committee chair person didn't seem to get the notice about SB18 and only had a hearing on SB16. There was also supposed to be a House hearing on HB62 (preemption) that was cancelled.
For most of these it seems that the committee hearings are where we get a chance to speak out. The format is all the elected officials get a chance to talk, then any 'regular' person gets two minutes. You can tell your story or cover how the criminals won't follow the laws, how it affects only the law abiding, how current and similar laws aren't prosecuted, etc.
More then likely you'll here more then one person just repeating what another person stated. I'd think, by far, your personal experience and your resulting course of action would speak louder then anything else. How you went, instead of being a victim, but empowering yourself and helping others by being an NRA instructor would impress everyone there.
I don't know what effect facts and figure play into the mind of Democrats but pulling at the heartstrings might work better. Your story isn't likely to be similar to any other story told there, though retold and remembered. Doesn't really matter which bill that's in committee it's still a story they need to hear at all of them. It's so different from the 'guns are evil, ban them all' that seems to come out of far too many folks mouths.
edit: Here's the schedule for the 17th;
In the senate they'll be covering SB18 (lost or stolen) and SB 23 (preemption) starting at 1pm.
http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis147.ns ... enDocument
No gun bills slated for the House that day, yet.
They really seem to try and make it as difficult as they can for those of us that work. To be able to show up for all of them seem impossible.
Best advice I can give is write down what you want to say. Practice it several times. Try when addressing the senators to not be constantly looking down and just reading it. Look them in the eye, let your emotions show and try to connect with them.
The senate hearing room is up the stairs and to the right, about halfway down the hall (on the left side of the hall). Try to get their 15-30 minutes early so that you can sign up to speak and be near the top of the list. If there's a large crowd you may not get a chance if you're late or far down on the list.
"The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." - Robert A. Heinlein
What a shame that we have the two major political parties that believe the former.