Man carries assault rifle to Obama protest -- and it's legal

by 158 | August 17, 2009 at 06:56 pm

749 views | 32 Recommendations | 24 comments

Phoenix, Arizona, man standing with other protesters, with the rifle slung over his right shoulder. Phoenix police said about a dozen people carrying weapons while peacefully demonstrating."It was a group interested in exercising the right to bear arms," said police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill. Arizona law has nothing regulating assault rifles, and only requires permits for carrying concealed weapons

There is a constitutional right

to ear arms and each state can

set reasonable regulations for

exercising this right. Arizona

chooses to allow citizens to

carry arms openly and there is

no exception for a presidential

visit.

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158

at 19:13 on August 17th, 2009

It does seem a ad idea to let armed citizens come near the president, even a few hundred yards away, but still in Arizona it is legal.

rng

at 19:18 on August 17th, 2009

In any real world, it shouldn't be. This is one of those 'only in America' moments.

I want to go and debate with Sarkozy, Brown and carry a sub-machine gun - not going to happen. In a rational reality shouldn't happen here either, but it still does. Palin shoots wolves from ahelicopter and Cheney other hunters in the face- odd place, huh?

RN (not verified)

at 10:05 on August 18th, 2009

Helloooo,

You know this was likely all staged to try to show gun-owners as psychos, right? I wonder if those gun-toters were paid to do so by the liberals themselves, just to make a political splash, knowing Obama would be there. Or did they provoke it with some online stuff urging people out there to go out to protest with their guns in hand? Hah, we know the lib's trickery, right? If Obama didn't have anything to do with it all, he needs to be even-handed and go push his bull at a nudist camp, too! (LOL)

158

at 11:39 on August 18th, 2009

It is the law and in a democracy it is legal until the law is changed.

Rory Cripps

at 19:33 on August 18th, 2009

158: The rule of law applies. I understand the aghast and shock in regard to the display of firearms in a public setting. Especially by those that live in a country where only members of their government and "police" are allowed to have guns. Quite frankly, I wouldn't feel secure living in a country like that. But all the same, I get a kick out of the reactions. I have, literally, been around guns since the day that I was born. Consequently, guns don't phase me in the least unless they're pointed in my direction and fired! And I've experienced that on a few occasions, but somehow, and miraculously, I managed to survive! LOL!

It's amazing how many Americans, nowadays, that have never fired a gun before, are going out and buying guns. And when they ask my advice, the first thing that I tell them is this: Load your gun in your living room, chamber a round, turn out the lights, and pull the trigger three times, at least, just to get a feel and to be prepared for the noise and the muzzle flash, if and when you have to use your gun for real.

B Goldwater (not verified)

at 04:49 on August 18th, 2009

Get off it people. You don't like America and it's traditions and Constitution you have an option - leave.

dunkelberg

at 08:09 on August 18th, 2009

That's right, dagnabit, we can't have anyone thinking for themselves in this here country.

We don't want no dissint neether. Lessen it's us.

You jest folo our leed and yew wonunt get mussed up.

Anti-Gun From ME. (not verified)

at 08:46 on August 18th, 2009

The whole reason firearms were EVER in the constitution was due to the nature of the times in which it was written. There was no police, you hunted for your own food, and malitias were the only form of military. In THAT time, owning a gun was as necessary as owning a pair of underpants. The constitution was written to protect the rights of the people given the circumstances of the time. Mind you...this was 1787....222 years ago.

Fast forward to 2009. We have a military. We have a very effective law enforcement system. We buy ALL of our food at a supermarket. The only practical use of a firearm in our modern society is for recreational hunting. There is NO NEED for Assault Weapons. There is NO NEED for handguns. You want to protect your family with a GUN? What happens when somebody enters your house when you're not home to steal something and they find your loaded handgun and then they shoot you with it? What happens if you shoot them? Will you be free and clear of any murder charges? Not in my state you wouldn't.

Do you feel like more of a man carrying that Glock under your shirt? What are you compensating for? Fine...own a hunting rifle for "shootin' yer deer", but beside that, it should all be outlawed. A gun has a single purpose....killing something. If you aren't a hunter and you still have a gun that what are you planning on killing? Me? Your neighbor? Your kid? Or is that AR-47 for taking care of that "Pesky Wabbit"???

Rayno (not verified)

at 09:58 on August 18th, 2009

So, did the colonists never leave their guns at home? It's still much the same, except you can't see it where you are. Back then, I suppose city-dwellers had fewer guns, just like now. Now, big-city & "civilized" places have fewer guns than the "frontier". News-flash: there are still frontiers in the U.S., and this is increasing due to the wildness of Mexican drug-lords' encroachments into the U.S. The U.S. Southwest, in rural areas esp., is very much a frontier. Hey, the drug-lords & meth-cookers don't care who they shoot, do they? This is all a scam to demonize gun-owners. The flip-side is that Obama is a communist traitor, right? Still, in the SW, you don't want to be out on a lonely stretch of hwy all alone, unprotected, with the nearest law-enforcement officer 50 + miles away...when your vehicle breaks down, especially if the Mexican drug-runners and coyotes are closer to you than the nearest sheriff's office.

John doe (not verified)

at 09:02 on September 1st, 2009

Whoever you are,you area complete retard and you should be kicked out of the us. you nothing of history or the consequences of not having firearms. so leave this country you communist idiot

158

at 11:40 on August 18th, 2009

Or you can work to change thew law.

158

at 11:41 on August 18th, 2009

Whether anyone likes carrying guns or not it is legal and can be done by others.

rng

at 19:13 on August 18th, 2009

it is legal

It is. IMHO it shouldn't be. In Kabul - yes. In America -no

It's time already. Give it up - you shouldn't wear a gun to meet your representative or President. You might be legally able to - but who rationally would say you should?

Enough already, enough

Rory Cripps

at 19:58 on August 18th, 2009

B Goldwater: Yes! There certainly seems to be a lot of people out there in the world that don't like America! And they like to tell Americans what to do too! A lot of what they tell Americans to do is valid and worth considering. But some of it is not valid to say the least. BTW: I had a fifth grade teacher that told her class that Barry Goldwater, if elected president, would nuke the entire world. Too bad that he wasn't elected . . . the world may have been better off!

Mortal

at 07:59 on August 18th, 2009

This is disturbing, and simply fuels trouble. I'm all for "gun rights" or citizens being permitted firearms, but every crowd has their fringe element -- ultra-left, ultra-right, etc. With Obama being there, there should be some sort of law that supercedes the state law allowing firearms, like a law limiting the distance from the President if you have a firearm. Of course, these guns might have been unloaded -- the cops likely made sure they were. People react wildly when you threaten them with too much change too quickly or threaten, in their eyes, their well-being. If it had been a rally promoting communism and the communist take-over of America that these people were protesting against, people might be sympathetic. As it is, it is Obama; and, while Obama may have some left-leaning views and ideas, he is still our president and must be regarded more respectfully. If some nut goes off and does something crazy, how will it help anything? It would only create an uproar, and with leadership like Biden & Pelosi, etc. who wants to give them a step up anyway? Obama at least doesn't seem to be rabidly leftist.

dunkelberg

at 08:10 on August 18th, 2009

His friends call him "Tiny".

Also, male teabaggers are prohibited from carrying pink assault rifles to rallies.

158

at 11:43 on August 18th, 2009

The constitution gives this right and to change it the constitution must be changed.

dunkelberg

at 18:38 on August 18th, 2009

I really think the no men teabaggers carrying pink AR-15's rule is an internal code and not at all mentioned in the Constitution.

dunkelberg

at 18:40 on August 18th, 2009

Here's the difference. The man was not ushered away or bothered at all.

Now, about the people wearing anti-Boy George Bush t-shirts who were hauled away from presidential events because they were exercising their Constitutional rights?

icemayer57 (not verified)

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