Posted on 08/18/2009 7:12:45 AM PDT by JoeProBono
PHOENIX, Arizona (CNN) -- A man toting an assault rifle was among a dozen protesters carrying weapons while demonstrating outside President Obama's speech to veterans on Monday, but no laws were broken. It was the second instance in recent days in which weapons have been seen near presidential events.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Page 2 13th post from the top. They were against Obamacare.
The group this man was in was the pro-0bama group though. CNN conveniently left that part out.
Right, thanks
Ok, I see the post. How do you explain what the second video clearly shows him doing?
Their supporters are making a point by carrying openly and I see no reason not to do the same. If intimidation is what they want to play, you play back with the same or more instead of forfeiting, IMO.
In the end, I personally would open carry to such an event strictly for self defense purposes, particularly after what we saw from the union thugs a few days back.
I am not convinced that is what he said. It looks like it might be, but we can’t hear it. Only he can tell us, and he isn’t talking.
Really poor judgment. One supposes this guy thinks he's making some sort of RKBA statement, and I suppose he is.... but he's also feeding the flames of the "Obama's endangered by right-wing extremists" movement. It's plausibly interpreted as a threat.
Sometimes it's better to just not make a statement.
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And that means something because.......
I don’t play games with weapons. I wouldn’t open-carry anywhere. Personally, I don’t like drawing attention to myself. My normal life consists of driving to/from work (where I cannot bring a weapon, even with a concealed carry permit), and going to the store or out to eat. In any of these situations, it would have to be alone, because no one I know would want to be seen in public with me. I certainly wouldn’t open-carry at this kind of event.
Because we are not talking about health rationing! Work on your reading comp.
Sure, but if they had to keep an extra close eye on the guy with the rifle, then he was just wasting their time and distracting them from the rest of their job.
Same here.
I’ve noticed that guns are something akin to jewellery w/ the guys at the range. :)
One guy wears a long colt sometimes.
Does anybody really think that the Secret Service is unaware of the gun laws in each and every jurisdiction in which they set foot? Whether or not this guy or anybody else carried a weapon openly, they are operating under the assumption that each and every person there could be armed and become a threat at any moment.
You don't think the secret service stands down in a no-carry jurisdiction, do you? Of course not, because everybody is a potential threat in their eyes.
In many ways, anybody open carrying is much less of a threat to the Secret Service because that individual has just removed any surprise-based tactical advantage he may have had. That person has been identified and if he creates the need for a response, they're on him much quicker.
The secret service knows that they work amongst legally armed citizens and illegally armed criminals every single day and they prepare accordingly. They also know that if open or concealed carry could be banned anywhere within 100 miles of their staging area that their jobs and threat assessments would not change in the least bit.
Work on yours. You make no sense.
See post 114.
I agree. If someone yelled, ‘gun’, he would be the first to draw their attention, and those few seconds could be the difference between life or death.
Could be worse, could be a Buntline Special!
See post 117
The national media didn’t blink when the Black Panthers marched outside of Huntville prison armed with rifles when Gary Graham was executed (he was a cause celeb for activists even though he was guilty as sin of multiple murders and attempted murders).
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