# Gun-toting protesters outside Obama event



## FishOuttaWater (18 Aug 2009)

_By Associated Press Writers Amanda Lee Myers And Terry Tang, Mon Aug 17, 6:22 pm ET_

*PHOENIX - About a dozen people carrying guns, including one with a military-style AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, milled among protesters outside the convention center where President Barack Obama was giving a speech Monday, the latest incident in which protesters have openly displayed firearms near the president.*

Gun-rights advocates say they're exercising their constitutional right to bear arms and protest, while those who argue for more gun control say it could be a disaster waiting to happen.

Phoenix police said the gun-toters at Monday's event, including the man carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle slung over his shoulder, didn't need permits. No crimes were committed, and no one was arrested.

The man with the rifle declined to be identified but told The Arizona Republic that he was carrying the assault weapon because he could. "In Arizona, I still have some freedoms," he said.

Phoenix police Detective J. Oliver, who monitored the man at the downtown protest, said police also wanted to make sure no one decided to harm him.

"Just by his presence and people seeing the rifle and people knowing the president was in town, it sparked a lot of emotions," Oliver said. "We were keeping peace on both ends."

Last week, during Obama's health care town hall in Portsmouth, N.H., a man carrying a sign reading "It is time to water the tree of liberty" stood outside with a pistol strapped to his leg.

"It's a political statement," he told The Boston Globe. "If you don't use your rights, then you lose your rights."

Police asked the man to move away from school property, but he was not arrested.

Fred Solop, a Northern Arizona University political scientist, said the incidents in New Hampshire and Arizona could signal the beginning of a disturbing trend.

"When you start to bring guns to political rallies, it does layer on another level of concern and significance," Solop said. "It actually becomes quite scary for many people. It creates a chilling effect in the ability of our society to carry on honest communication."

He said he's never heard of someone bringing an assault weapon near a presidential event. "The larger the gun, the more menacing the situation," he said.

Phoenix was Obama's last stop on a four-day tour of western states, including Montana and Colorado.

Authorities in Montana said they received no reports of anyone carrying firearms during Obama's health care town hall near Bozeman on Friday. About 1,000 people both for and against Obama converged at a protest area near the Gallatin Field Airport hangar where the event took place. One person accused of disorderly conduct was detained and released, according to the Gallatin Airport Authority.

Heather Benjamin of Denver's Mesa County sheriff's department, the lead agency during Obama's visit there, said no one was arrested.

Arizona is an "open-carry" state, which means anyone legally allowed to have a firearm can carry it in public as long as it's visible. Only someone carrying a concealed weapon is required to have a permit.

Paul Helmke, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said people should not be allowed to bring guns to events where Obama is.

"To me, this is craziness," he said. "When you bring a loaded gun, particularly a loaded assault rifle, to any political event, but particularly to one where the president is appearing, you're just making the situation dangerous for everyone." 

He said people who bring guns to presidential events are distracting the Secret Service and law enforcement from protecting the president. "The more guns we see at more events like this, there's more potential for something tragic happening," he said. 

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said armed demonstrators in open-carry states such as Arizona and New Hampshire have little impact on security plans for the president. 

"In both cases, the subject was not entering our site or otherwise attempting to," Donovan said. "They were in a designated public viewing area. The main thing to know is that they would not have been allowed inside with a weapon." 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090817/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_protesters_guns


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## BlueJingo (20 Aug 2009)

Yup, they are sure showing their right to bear arms... And apparently the interviewer interviewing the man with the assault rifle also had a pistol on him.

Nothing like showing your political support by throwing your rifle in the air and firing off a few while cheering at the top of your lungs etc... oh wait.... wrong country...nevermind.


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## 2 Cdo (20 Aug 2009)

Jingo said:
			
		

> Yup, they are sure showing their right to bear arms... And apparently the interviewer interviewing the man with the assault rifle also had a pistol on him.
> 
> Nothing like showing your political support by throwing your rifle in the air and firing off a few while cheering at the top of your lungs etc... oh wait.... wrong country...nevermind.



Nice hyperbole, : where in the story does it mention anyone firing weapons?


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## BlueJingo (20 Aug 2009)

I was trying to be a smart a$$...

that was a reference to what happens in other countries... it didn't happen there...


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## Colin Parkinson (20 Aug 2009)

It must have pissed off the press that he was a well dressed Black guy as well, it kept them from playing the "Neo-con white guy hating the black President card". Funny how the street didn't run with blood, because someone exercised their open carry rights. I sure the Bradey bunch need new underwear.
Funny how the press blames these guys for "distracting from the health care debate" If the press ignored them and stuck to the subject, then they would not be a distraction.  :


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## a_majoor (20 Aug 2009)

> Funny how the press blames these guys for "distracting from the health care debate" If the press ignored them and stuck to the subject, then they would not be a distraction.



Actually that is a feature, not a bug. The more people find out about the proposals behind "health care reform" the less they like it. If the MSM can change the subject and distract people from exercising their rights to dissent and free speech (much less their second amendment rights) then the ability of the American people to derail the "health care reform" proposals will be blunted.


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## FishOuttaWater (20 Aug 2009)

Colin P said:
			
		

> Funny how the street didn't run with blood, because someone exercised their open carry right.



 :nod: Thats the pont to the story, IMO...


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## Fishbone Jones (20 Aug 2009)

And if you don't believe the press is manipulative, scare mongering and pro Obama, look at both sides of this coin. MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer was worried over health care reform protesters legally carrying guns: "A man at a pro-health care reform rally...wore a semiautomatic assault rifle on his shoulder and a pistol on his hip....there are questions about whether this has racial overtones....white people showing up with guns."  Brewer failed to mention the man she described was black. :


http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-dr...ist-protesters






versus

MSNBC's clip...where they don't show this fellas hands or his head? 

MSNBC's Clip on Youtube


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## Colin Parkinson (20 Aug 2009)

But he is a SOUTHPAW, BURN HIM AT THE STAKE FOR DEVIL WORSHIP!!!


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## FishOuttaWater (20 Aug 2009)

I resent that statement...! I'm southpaw (well, when it comes to shooting)...! 


 ;D


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## Retired AF Guy (20 Aug 2009)

recceguy said:
			
		

> And if you don't believe the press is manipulative, scare mongering and pro Obama, look at both sides of this coin. MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer was worried over health care reform protesters legally carrying guns: "A man at a pro-health care reform rally...wore a semiautomatic assault rifle on his shoulder..



How can you "wear" a rifle on your shoulder? And if its semiauto _its not an assault rifle_!!


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## Colin Parkinson (20 Aug 2009)

All I can say is he's gutsy for wearing a white shirt and slinging a rifle over it. God help when he gets home and the wife finds oil stains on the shirt, then he will be in real trouble.


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## Xiang (21 Aug 2009)

With their eroding rights since 9/11, I am happy to see Americans exercising their 2nd amendment rights.  

The government should fear the people, not the other way around.


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