Man carrying assault weapon attends Obama protest

[ETR3(SS)]

What do ya think of this one? A sign of things to come from an awakening public? Also note the classification of the weapon in the article.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090817/...rotesters_guns

[Thomen]

Originally Posted by ETR3(SS)

What do ya think of this one? A sign of things to come from an awakening public? Also note the classification of the weapon in the article.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090817/...rotesters_guns

Well, the guy in question did not break any laws and apparently did not come close to Obama.

Nice gun, though.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Comment on DailyKos

Our gun-toting brethren showing up to Town Halls are comprised of sick ****s and racists.

[nikimcbee]

Hate, obama; love guns....but this seems to be a serious lapse of personal judgement. It gives the admin ammo to say: "look, they are all gun toting kooks." If this guy is legit, that's not the message I'd want to send. Seems like it would be more of a legal hassle too.
The thought did cross my mind that he could be one of those acorn plants

[Thomen]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Hate, obama; love guns....but this seems to be a serious lapse of personal judgement. It gives the admin ammo to say: "look, they are all gun toting kooks." If this guy is legit, that's not the message I'd want to send. Seems like it would be more of a legal hassle too.

Personally, I do not necessarily agree with having weapons near an elected official. You are correct that it can back fire. However, even the Secret Service did not think enough of it to widen the security zone.

The thought did cross my mind that he could be one of those acorn plants

Maybe, you can't be sure these days.

[mookiemookie]

I don't see why he'd feel the need to bring a gun to a political discussion. It sends a bad message and creates a dangerous air around the proceedings that can only encourage the nutbars.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

I don't see why he'd feel the need to bring a gun to a political discussion. It sends a bad message and creates a dangerous air around the proceedings that can only encourage the nutbars.

Perhaps this was his very intent.

Like the union folks going into the town hall meetings itching for a fight.

If the conservatives were not a 'threat' they wouldent bother so I figure were doing something right.

[roman2440]

This is a local story for me, living in the phoenix metro area so I've got a different perspective on this.

1) He was not the only armed person at this meeting. He was the one the media focused on, but there were dozens others also armed (although not quite as explicitly as he was). The person mentioned in particular I believe was the only one with a rifle (the others mostly just had pistols).

2) His weapons were in plain sight and not held in any kind of threatening manner. In Arizona law that is legal. You are allowed to carry a weapon in plain sight as you wish (with a couple of minor exceptions) as long as it is in plain sight.

3) They were there to protest against obama and to take up their message of 2nd amendment gun rights. Perhaps not the best way of doing it, but I applaud them for having the balls to do so. I also think that by doing so and there not having been an incident shows just what gun rights advocates have been saying all along, that you are in no more danger by allowing guns then you are if they are banned.

Trust me if there was someone there who planned to harm the pres it would be the person you didn't know was armed. If you go back in history to all of assassination attempts do you really think if guns had been banned that they would have been stopped/caught? Do you think a gun ban would have stopped lee harvey oswald? Would it have prevented booth from shooting lincoln? Or even if you want to talk about something a bit more modern, how about the assassination attempt on Reagan's life?

The common thread through all of these is that the shooter concealed his weapon prior to the attack. No gun ban is going to stop that.

[Zachstar]

That is not the issue here. The issue is the attention is on HIM and not the potential one for harm.

As for balls. If you have to come packing that much heat you've got little tiny ones in my view. And seeing as even a basic understanding of the states gun laws and the second amendment meant he could not be touched. What makes that "brave"?

He was not brave he was a media whore in my opinion. Saw the brewhaha over the pistol packing protester and wanted to oneup him in front of the cameras.

[JHuschke]

Well someday someone is going to be carrying a weapon and he probably isn't going to stand there with it strapped on his shoulder.

[SUBMAN1]

Check this guy out - http://www.frommers.com/blog/?plckCo...StampAscending

Maybe he should have asked the question about how many people got killed at that event before drawing such illogical conclusions?

-S

[Steel_Tomb]

Hmmm... ok.

I understand that you chaps across the pond love your shiny guns. However, I really fail to understand why you would just carry one around in public? If your going to go shooting at a range or keep it for personal use then I have no problem, but to go armed with lethal weapons casually along the street just seems a wee bit weird! Is it to stroke your ego "hey look I have a big gun". It just makes things quite uneasy, I mean imagine if some nut job had such a rifle and decided to go empty a magazine? In a public place? Its mad, quite simply. Its been seen many times when mentally unstable people have gone on a rampage with guns, I'm sure you all remember the Virginia tech killings... IMHO there isn't enough restriction on the flow of arms in the USA... far more thorough background checks should be used, and anyone with a criminal record should simply be banned from owning such weapons. That was a political rally, with women and children present most likely... personally I find it COMPLETELY unnecessary to carry loaded weapons to such an event, especially as the President was in attendance to it!

I understand some may not like Obama, maybe its his policies or maybe some white folk can't get over the fact his skin is a different shade to theirs.

This isn't a rant against gun ownership in the US, I personally think we should have some limited use of guns in the UK for personal protection or sport. However, I completely disagree with anyone who thinks its safe or appropriate to carry a gun in public or to a public event.

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by Steel_Tomb

Hmmm... ok.

I understand that you chaps across the pond love your shiny guns. However, I really fail to understand why you would just carry one around in public? If your going to go shooting at a range or keep it for personal use then I have no problem, but to go armed with lethal weapons casually along the street just seems a wee bit weird! Is it to stroke your ego "hey look I have a big gun". It just makes things quite uneasy, I mean imagine if some nut job had such a rifle and decided to go empty a magazine? In a public place? Its mad, quite simply. Its been seen many times when mentally unstable people have gone on a rampage with guns, I'm sure you all remember the Virginia tech killings... IMHO there isn't enough restriction on the flow of arms in the USA... far more thorough background checks should be used, and anyone with a criminal record should simply be banned from owning such weapons. That was a political rally, with women and children present most likely... personally I find it COMPLETELY unnecessary to carry loaded weapons to such an event, especially as the President was in attendance to it!

I understand some may not like Obama, maybe its his policies or maybe some white folk can't get over the fact his skin is a different shade to theirs.

This isn't a rant against gun ownership in the US, I personally think we should have some limited use of guns in the UK for personal protection or sport. However, I completely disagree with anyone who thinks its safe or appropriate to carry a gun in public or to a public event.

I couldn't agree more.

[August]

Originally Posted by Steel_Tomb

I mean imagine if some nut job had such a rifle and decided to go empty a magazine? In a public place?

If someone is contemplating such an act they aren't going to be dissuaded by gun laws. If one decides to do this in Arizona then there are likely to be armed folks around who could put a stop to him. That doesn't happen in a society that does not allow it's citizens the right to bear firearms. In such situations they are basically sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

Its mad, quite simply. Its been seen many times when mentally unstable people have gone on a rampage with guns, I'm sure you all remember the Virginia tech killings...

I'm glad you brought that up. There was already a campus wide ban on the possession of firearms, but that did not stop him. It did ensure however that his victims would not be able to.

[Steel_Tomb]

Then perhaps for an instance like that, persons under a certain age (say 25?) should not lawfully be able to personally own their own weapon. They should be able to use weapons owned by family members i.e. their father for either personal protection in the home or for sport whilst accompanied by an adult able to take responsibility for them. Exceptions could be made in very specific circumstances, like retired military personnel who could lawfully own a weapon under the "age limit". Such restrictions don't infringe on your "right to bear arms" as you call it, as access to weapons for protecting yourself or your family is still there but would hopefully prevent you from getting guns into a campus. Its quite likely that the tragedy at Virginia tech may not have happened if that lad hadn't been able to purchase a gun from a local store using such restrictions.

I'm not trying to turn this into a gun law thread. Just wanted to show what kind of alternative views you guys over there could take on gun ownership and what is and isn't acceptable

[Steel_Tomb]

EDIT: double post sorry!