Armed Protesters

About a week ago my friend Bling! sent me this article on a bunch of protesters in Phoenix, AZ that showed up armed to an Obama speech.

It’s worth a quick read, and I’ve had a bunch of mixed feelings about the article since I read it. Just in case you don’t want to do the quick read – it’s legal to openly carry firearms in AZ. A bunch of anti-Obama folks showed up at one of his speeches fairly well armed. One guy even had an assault rifle. They weren’t let into the convention, but they were clearly in close proximity to where the president would be.

One of my first and immediate thoughts is “good for you!” Some people had the balls to really show their dissent and disapproval of what is happening in the government today in a very open and insulting fashion.

But I also think that these people behaved completely inappropriately. We aren’t talking about a few protesters showing up to say that they didn’t agree and that because they are in AZ they also happened to be carrying firearms. No, these people intentionally armed themselves and went to the meeting in a coordinate and organized fashion.

What is wrong with this? Well, let’s face it. Carrying a gun is not the same thing as carrying a sign or a banner. True, you might be able to use a sign to swing at someone but a sign or banner is clearly not as threatening as a gun, even if what was written on the sign is really good.

Part of being a gun owner is showing responsibility above and beyond that of non-gun owners. If anything the public eye is always upon us (if you know we are carrying) and our actions should transcend that of the common citizen. Carrying firearms into or near a political rally in protest is not a sign of prudent thinking and responsibility. Political arenas are a microcosm of emotion and prone to arguments and disagreements. This is not the type of environment to which you introduce even more uncertainty and potential threat of personal harm. If I know I am entering into a situation like that, I leave my gun at home or I don’t go.

We are also talking about a speech given by one of the most controversial presidents in recent U.S. history. Clearly there are a lot of people that don’t like him for whatever reason and the U.S. Secret Service has a great responsibility of protecting him. A bunch of protesters carrying firearms is a nightmare for them. I don’t believe that there should be a law that says a gun can’t be carried within so many feet of POTUS, but again a little exercise in good judgment would be prudent.

I can only think of all the anti-gun people saying “look at these gun nuts! What do they think they are doing??” But I’ll say this –

1 - They were exercising their rights, even if it wasn’t in the best taste.
2 - There were NO incidents that day amongst anyone carrying a firearm.