A stroll through Wesley Bowling Plaza may be a common destination for couples courting each other, but on Saturday morning, Ka’Sondra Bible, from the West Vally, and Carey Johnson decided to mix it up for their second-ever date by attending the Celebrate & Protect Second Amendment Rally at the Phoenix park.
A lineup of gun rights advocates, including state politicians, spoke at the event, which, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety was attended by approximately 500 people.
A photo relating to firearms that Bible had on her dating profile caught Johnson’s attention, and now they were sipping on cucumber lemonade under the shade of a tree as speakers in front of the state Capitol took turns praising the movement or lambasting gun control efforts. Many in the crowd carried firearms. Among them was Johnson, a Republican Party precinct committee member who said he was there for “Freedom.”
“They’re trying to ban guns like this that legal gun owners own,” Johnson said of gun control advocates, pointing to the AR-15 he sported across his torso. Decked out in tan camouflage fatigue accessorized with a Glock on his waist and a hunting knife tucked into a chest pocket, Johnson cheerfully added about his more demurely dressed date, “It’s her first time at one of these. I brought her.”