Protestors carry firearms near Presidential speech
 

PHOENIX – About a dozen people carrying guns, including one with a military-style 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."




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Nothing wrong with it IMHO. If folks want to carry their weapons and the law allows it, fine by me.

This the statement that gets me:

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."

And remember this gem: "So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Decide to make a change on how some health care is done and people immediately pick up weapons because they are afraid of losing that right to bear arms...Nice.

I'm not sure who this "they" you are referring to is. It sounds like some caricature of a stereotype though.

Do you mean to say that if you don't support this coming "change," that you "cling" to things like guns, religion, xenophobia, or that you must necessarily cling to all three?

You have to realize that the only reason people like this are in the news at all is because someone is trying to paint anyone who disagrees with whatever Obama and the Democrats are selling as a loony and/or a domestic terrorist wannabe.

Don't buy too much into the hype. We right-wingers are generally pretty normal people who don't need guns, religion and xenophobia to comfort us in our belief systems. That said, I do tend to be quite fond of guns and religion and I'm not sure how I feel about free trade. Strangely, most pro-union Dems have misgivings about free trade, but I doubt they're religious or own guns or any of those scary things.

I won't buy it...until the shooting starts.

And google the 2nd quote.

Maybe I wasn't being clear enough in what I was saying. My fault.

What you are seeing is more likely than not a purposeful paying of attention to some protesters and not others in an effort to essentially slander/libel everyone who doesn't agree with whatever it is the President is pushing. That's all this is.

These crazy people have always been around. These sorts showing up at political events isn't exactly new. What is new is that they are getting some serious news coverage.

In other words, this is a non-event. Then again, I have a different perspective on guns than most of y'all who live in urban centers on the coasts. Around here, just about every other person carries a concealed weapon and it's perfectly legal. It is absolutely not uncommon to be out in public while in possession of a firearm. And the folks who carry firearms are just about never (if ever) implicated in doing anything wrong. I do have friends whose lives and property have been saved just because of the fact that they had their guns at the right times and places. I understand that most of y'all on the East Coast aren't even allowed to possess firearms in public. Maybe there's a cultural disconnect?

mmmkay...we will see.

Look over the last 2 decades.

During the Reagan years, you never heard about these guys. Bush I -- same story.

Then Clinton comes along and suddenly... they exist... almost out of nowhere.

Bush II comes along, they disappear. POOF.

Then Obama comes along? ...The SPLC reports that militias are on the rise again, in other news, someone was seen with a gun and a sign 5 miles away from where the President was speaking.

-- there is a pattern here, I promise.

I think it's pretty interesting how the health care debate has fired up the fear mongering on both sides of the aisle.

ETA: Also, I remember the 2nd quote from the President's campaign speech (in PA, right?). I think people from all political beliefs "cling" to certain issues when things get controversial for them.

Not diagreeing with you, amazed as you are that this makes news! But sense a little more is at work...tis all.


Ditto to what KSig said.

What's the correlation between changing health care and people all of a sudden fearing losing their rights to carry guns...especially when gun usage causes many to need health care in the first place....LOL

or, maybe the media is bored and trying to scare the bejeezis out of us.

This.

But, if someone does get shot, I am allowed to say 'I tole ya".

Right? :)

So long as I can disown the shooter.

Even if that happens, it'd still be just a shooting. Maybe one by a fringe lunatic for political reasons, but all in all, just a shooting.

Now, when we're talking human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria, I'd at least like an opportunity to disown a few people.

A concealed weapon, yes. But is it common to see someone walking around on a city street with a semi-automatic rifle over his shoulder? That's the part I think is noteworthy, and I can see why it raises some eyebrows when a president (any president) is nearby.

Maybe you never heard about guys like this during the Reagan and Bush (I and II) years. I can assure you I did. I think it's a bit of an oversell to blame a sudden interest in them on the liberal MSM. Maybe that's part of the equation, but not all.

To me that's the interesting phenomenon here -- the depth of the reaction and fear-mongering all around.

It's ironic that the protester who is apparently afraid his civil rights are being impermissibly curtailed is able to carry a semi-automatic rifle over his shoulder so close to the President.