[El Gato]

If they did not have metal detectors and pat downs at the venue, Hasan was probably able to carry heat in there.

They probably did. Those folks, unlike the rank and file of the US military, have extensive security. The members of the military aren't even allowed to be able to protect themselves.

And that is even more true now than it was when Hasan went on his rampage. As if he would have declared his pistols to the gate guard, or registered them with the post authorities, as all are now required to do.

[AmericanInTokyo]

The speech was on an American university campus, not at a federal government facility. In that case, and I have seen cases, of VIPs giving talks on universities and there are no checkpoints, wandings or metal detectors.

I still do wonder what the case was for physical security last summer at George Washington University in D.C. when Major Hasan showed up (by then on FBI watch list) and got a front row center seat right across from the Ambassador (from the country he HATES).