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Message: <blockquote data-quote="shorton" data-source="post: 2111191" data-attributes="member: 24855">I have been thinking about posting this for a week or so now, wasn't really sure I wanted to talk about a private conversation out of context, but here we go. I'm not really a politically involved person and therefore I don't pretend to have a lot of knowledge, but that is exactly the problem it seems. i was at a benefit dinner for an adoption agency about a week ago and ended up meeting some semi influential people. I was sitting at the table with a couple of mayors, the owner of one of Tulsa's biggest car dealerships, my girlfriend, and a funeral director. The funeral director and I were discussing the current situation on proposed gun laws and surrounding facts and issues. I happened to mention that I had seen a news report that talked about teachers in Oklahoma being allowed to carry concealed weapons if they were so inclined, and had their permit. One of the mayors, who evidently spends a great deal of time at the capitol, then proceeded to tell me that it would never happen and the idea had been pretty much squashed. When I asked why, he gave me a long explanation involving state responsibility, insurance questions, and various other reasons. Don't get me wrong here, I am pretty sure he was pro gun, he just knows how the system works in OKC. The one reason he gave me that made me think the most, was that most proposed laws don't pass because nobody goes to the capitol to lobby for support. He went on to say that most people don't even know how or who to lobby for support. He also went on to say that when the state government meets to talk about proposals they usually have about 3500 pieces of legislation to look at! 3500!!!! He said they spend most of their time wading through all the red tape and nobody is there to watch what is happening, so a lot of good legislation dies because people simply just don't care.  I understand that people have lives to lead and work to do, I'm just as guilty as anyone. But we as a society, need to start paying more attention to what is going on. Whether you are for or against any issue, including gun control, get yourself educated. I hate that my apathy has lasted this long and that it took someone else explaining things to get me motivated. Not sure where or what to start looking at, but I intend to do just that. At the end of this conversation I asked this mayor to ask this question next time he was in OKC talking about legislation. Every year in this country, we spend millions of dollars on guarding our money, why would we not do the same for our children? He agreed it was a good question.</blockquote>

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