I've seen other posts that say he was a Ron Paul supporter, a libertarian who openly asserted the Second Amendment as his reason for carrying, even near the President.
So do you have a link? This is still a gray area -- who was this guy and what was he trying to prove?
HYPOTHETICAL No.2
What if Obama's Secret Service detail had gone out into the crowd, confronted the man, and demanded his weapon "on principle" -- trying to establish a new "principle" that nobody has 2A rights around the President, when SecTreas says otherwise?
So then does the guy have to go to jail to assert his right? What if they get tactical with him and offer to shoot him on the spot if he doesn't surrender his weapon? What sort of "principle" would that be a precedent for? Or would the guy have to die to sustain our rights?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EeNcLn4FBM
These guys are pushing the issue and they are correct about the tyranical gov.