The recurring message from state capitals: Responsible gun owners should be left alone.

Thousands of gun rights supporters gathered at state capitols around the country
Saturday to rally against new laws to regulate on firearms proposed by President Obama
in the wake of last month's school shooting in Connecticut.
The crowds included people of all ages, some waving flags and holding signs saying
"Don't Tread on Me" and "Stand behind the Second Amendment."
A recurring message was that responsible gun owners should be left alone.
"The current administration wants to control every aspect of our lives," Alabama
Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan said to the crowd at the state capitol in
Montgomery. "We need to use our state motto 'Dare to defend our rights.' "
The rallies were part of a grass-roots effort, called Guns Across America, initiated by
Texas resident Eric Reed. The group's Facebook page listed plans for protests in 46
states.
Police in Connecticut said about 1,000 people showed up on the capitol grounds in
Hartford, about 50 miles from the site of last month's mass shooting at Newtown's
Sandy Hook Elementary School. Demonstrators there urged state and federal authorities
not to introduce new restrictions on gun ownership as task forces created by the
Legislature and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy consider changes to state gun laws.
In Albany, N.Y., several thousand people aimed their protests at Gov. Andrew Cuomo,
who this week signed legislation that puts a tighter ban on assault weapons and highcapacity magazines. Protesters chanted "Freedom," "U.S.A." and "Cuomo's Gotta Go."
Some gun owners said they are being unfairly targeted by the new law.
At the Iowa capitol in Des Moines, state Rep. Tom Shaw told the crowd that serving
overseas in the Navy had taught him the importance of allowing average citizens to
defend themselves against dictators.
"I saw the eyes of the oppressed ... screaming for freedom," Shaw said. "I'm going to
make sure that never happens in America and never happens in Iowa."
Chris Chaney, 23, of Davenport, Iowa, said he's disgusted by what he sees as the use of
children's deaths in the Connecticut school shooting to win political support for guncontrol legislation.
"If we give up liberty in the name of security, we will have neither," Chaney said.
"Everybody has a right to defend themselves against evil people and tyranny."
Nearly 100 gun advocates drove from across South Dakota to attend a rally under the
state's capitol dome in Pierre, where speakers praised gun rights as the only defense
against tyranny and crime.
"When you try to take away our right to bear guns, you're trying to tear our country
down," said Jeff Monroe, a state senator who addressed the crowd.

There were no actual firearms visible at the rally, which was held inside the Capitol
where only law enforcement officers are allowed to be armed.
But a rally in Frankfort, Ky., drew hundreds of participants, several shouldering
firearms and wearing holsters, and Tea Party leader David Adams told the crowd, "Our
government is out of control."
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., received a large round of applause for announcing this
week that he wants to introduce legislation to overturn Obama's recent executive orders
on firearms and for saying teachers should be armed at schools.
Authorities reported no problems at an rallies, which remained peaceful Saturday
afternoon.
Contributing: Matt Okarmus of the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, Joseph Spector of
the Gannett Albany (N.Y.) Bureau, Jens Manuel Krogsatad of The Des Moines Register,
David Montgomery of the (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader, Tom Loftus or The
(Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal, Terricha Bradley of the (Jackson, Miss.) ClarionLedger; The Associated Press