Comment by truth on August 17, 2009 at 8:14pm

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 incidents 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 was monitoring 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.

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

Authorities in Montana said Monday 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. A permit is required if the weapon is carried concealed.

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.

Comment by Zensaber on August 18, 2009 at 2:36am

How dare Americans have fire arms! They could be terrorists! Or be racist.

Comment by truth on August 18, 2009 at 6:02am

It was a Liberty group from Arizona

They went to counter the Leftists. Read this thread from ArizonaShooting.com: http://www.arizonashootin...

Cliff's notes: They coordinated with Phoenix PD the night before what they were going to do and they were escorted the whole time. The gentleman "Chris B." volunteered to OC his AR-15 and made sure to dress nicely. His magazine was inserted in the rifle but contained no ammunition.

If you observe his Glock holstered on his left hip you can tell he is a left-handed shooter which means his rifle was slung on his weak side. It also was slung muzzle down to convey a non-threatening posture. I'm going to assume it remained slung the entire time.

You can also assume Secret Service snipers had a bead on him the whole time...and he probably knew it.

You may agree or disagree but this gentleman and his friends have big brass balls to do this. They asserted their Liberty in a peaceful manner and no one got hurt. Too many times we sit at our keyboards and bitch but these guys DID SOMETHING! Look to see more of this at future TEA PARTIES and rallies. And you know what? IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!

Here is an abc news video where they interview the guy in the cnn video.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...

must listen to:

mp3 http://www.freedomsphoeni.

raw footage

http://www.youtube.com/wa...

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