And it begins!!

[VBshooter]

Here are some of the first posts I have found about the guns near the President thing..the usual BS you would expect to hear,, THe Secret Service is being very cool in light of the situation.Robert Gibbs said the exact correct thing when questioned on the matter. Ther are laws that govern guns done state or loaclly,"Those laws don't change when the President comes to your town or locality". This Norton woman is the stereotypical 2nd amendment hater and thinks she can just toss it out the window as necessary,

Thursday, August 20, 2009
Norton Calls for Ban on Guns Near Obama

The Hill newspaper reported late yesterday afternoon that Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) called on the Homeland Security Department and the U.S. Secret Service to provide tighter restrictions on citizens carrying weapons, openly or concealed, while in the vicinity of President Barack Obama.


It is clear that if the Secret Service can temporarily clear all aircraft from air space when the president is in the vicinity, the agency has the authority to clear guns on the ground that are even closer to the President.

For their part, the Secret Service has maintained that the President was never in danger at anytime during the various events where protesters showed up carrying firearms. Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley respond to Norton’s request:


In both instances, those guys were outside of the outer-most perimeter of security, so what would apply is state law. They never had any proximity to the president at any time. They weren’t trying to gain access to the event and they weren’t in a position outside the event where they could have affected the president.


That isn't stopping the anti-rights crowd from trying to use these events to push their agenda.


Brady Campaign, a gun control group, said that these increasing instances of brandishing firearms in public could lead to escalated scenarios in the future that put the president at risk because it stretches law enforcement thin.

Just more fuel on the fire as to why overt public displays may end up causing us to expend energy that could be directed in more productive activities.

Comments by Second Amendment scholar Dave Kopel posted by Sebastian earlier today says as much:


“This is really a form of expressive speech, and I think the fact that the Secret Service … hasn’t gotten particularly upset shows good judgement on their part,” he says.

Still, the man didn’t necessarily do the Second Amendment cause any favors, Kopel says.

“While I think it’s really paranoid for some of the media to falsely characterize this as people trying to threaten the president, I think it shows bad judgement to carry [guns] near a presidential speech,” he says. Protesters are “trying to make a statement about Second Amendment rights, but they’re doing it in a way that probably sets back that cause.”


Hat tip to Sebastian.
Posted by VSSA President at 1:32 PM 0 comments
Labels: armed protesters, Barack Obama, Brady Campaign
Stephen Stromberg, NRA, and Armed Protestors

Well, Stephen Stromberg of the Washington Post's "Post Partisan" blog has weighed in on the armed citizens showing up at presidential events and he thinks the NRA needs to tell the armed masses to cease and desist.


If the NRA were to take that commitment seriously, why wouldn’t the organization loudly discourage gun owners from, say, bringing loaded weapons to a presidential town hall, as several did recently? Or from threatening the president while wearing a packed leg holster?

I don't recall any of these people "threatening" the president.

Stromberg also is not pleased that Obama's official mouthpiece (no not the Teleprompter - his spokesman Robert Gibbs) did not discourage these displays, writing that the NRA "cowed" the White House into defending the activists. Yesterday Gibbs said:


There are laws that govern firearms that are done state or locally. Those laws don't change when the president comes to your state or locality.

Stromberg doesn't score any points with me by classifying citizens who carry firearms in public as "nut jobs." I've already written about whether I think they help our cause doing it as they have in these high profile incidents but I don't believe they are "nut jobs."

The fact that Stromberg tries to puff up his "post partisan" creds by telling us he is an "Eagle Scout trained in firearm use" doesn't change the fact that such broad brush portrayals demonstrate that he probably thinks that firearms are probably best left out of the hands of the individual citizen.

NRA has done the right thing to stay out of it and Gibbs' comments yesterday reinforces that view.
Posted by VSSA President at 9:10 AM 0 comments
Labels: armed protesters, Barack Obama, nra

[zephyp]

The people OCing at these rallies are indeed making a statement about the 2nd Amendment. IMO they arent necessarily expressing their right to bear arms - they are expressing the Founders reasoning for the 2nd Amendment and reminding the administration why it exists to begin with.

[rugdoc]

The people OCing at these rallies are indeed making a statement about the 2nd Amendment. IMO they arent necessarily expressing their right to bear arms - they are expressing the Founders reasoning for the 2nd Amendment and reminding the administration why it exists to begin with.

Agreed, the show of arms is in reference to the reasoning of our Founding Fathers.

[shulatt]

Some of it may also be a reminder to those politicians who seem intent on trampling over anything in thier way to personal power, including us citizens, that we do in fact still have rights.

Shawn

[VBshooter]

These people are the type that consider the President a King or top sovereign,, THey have forgotten that in this country anyone can become president or be elected to public office.Seeing regular folks excercise their rights burns their butts due to that hero worship attitude they have developed. I applaud those gun folks that showed they have the right to own and bear arms. By doing so they show that Obama is not a God, not a savior, nor is he a a monarch king , he is nothing but the man who happens to be President. In this country the law applies equally to him too!!

[ProShooter]

Brady Campaign, a gun control group, said that these increasing instances of brandishing firearms in public could lead to escalated scenarios in the future that put the president at risk because it stretches law enforcement thin.


Did anyone notify the police when they saw all this "brandishing" going on? Oh wait, you mean that they were just carrying thier handguns and not waving them around, trying to threaten someone's life? Oh well geez, that's not brandishing at all, now is it?

[VBshooter]

We all know it isn;t ,,, The Brady Bunch for sure is right at the top of the list for stretching the truth,Their website reads like a whose who of BS and lies..Shock value is their creedo,, Sadly all many will fall in with that line of garbage due to the President being up there on a pedestal wearing the white robes and halo! Way too many people have forgotten in this country that we are not to be followers ,but to act freely as we see fit within the boundaries of the laws we pass,

[wylde007]

They have forgotten that in this country anyone can become president...

Even an illegal alien with no birth certificate.

What a country!

[zephyp]

They have forgotten that in this country anyone can become president...

Even an illegal alien with no birth certificate.

What a country!

Hey, he's probably a legal citizen - somehwere...

[VBshooter]

wylde007 wrote:
VBshooter wrote:
They have forgotten that in this country anyone can become president...Even an illegal alien with no birth certificate.

What a country!

Doesn't say a whole hell of a lot about the voters does it?

[wylde007]

Doesn't say a whole hell of a lot about the voters does it?

Of particular and specific interest to my point exactly.

I believe Carlos Mencia said it best "Dur-du-dur!"

[allingeneral]

I believe Carlos Mencia said it best "Dur-du-dur!"

I thought it was "Deet-de-Deee" Mencia - that's a funny guy right there.

[wylde007]

I thought it was "Deet-de-Deee" Mencia - that's a funny guy right there.

Onomatopœiaically speaking, that there's a tough one to script, it is.

[dabigguy]

Does anyone know who these people are that were legally OCing there? They were obviously an organized group that decided to express their constitutional rights. Could they be plants by the Dems. to open the door so they can tramp upon our rights?

Legal, yes, smart, NO. If they were OCing for protection, I'm OK with that. If they were OCing to make a statement like zephyr said, I'm OK with that too. I just don't want to see any more restrictions upon our rights. Where do they draw the line? From what I understand they were 2 blocks from where the POTUS was, what's the proper distance, 3 blocks, 3 miles, 3 states?

[zephyp]

I lived in AZ for 17 years and you see this all the time. OC is a normal occurrence almost everywhere as is the rifle or shotgun in the truck rack. Unless there were in the cordoned area they were legal. I'm convinced they were making a statement and most likely not plants. Too sedate for that. A liberal plant would have no doubt caused some sort of scene knowing they would be protected by the group that sent them.

[GS78]

whats obama affraid of anyway?

[zephyp]

whats obama affraid of anyway?

People just like me and you my friend.

[VBshooter]

With the Secret Service constantly around him I doubt he has much to physically fear,, Politically yes !!! Wether he or any other politician like it , We are a force to be reckoned with,, What we need to be aware of is how the other side is so quick and willing to toss our Constitutional rights out the window.THe Brady Butts and that Norton woman didn;t even think about it when trying to restrict yours and my rights just by putting a name on it.,."Near the President" It's the same as any group or politician using "Do it for the children" BS... More garbage has been passed or enacted using that battle cry than I can count,..The gun banners are no different,, If they can find a platform you can bet they;ll use it,,Whatever the cost they will attempt to strip your rights and never look back. To them it will be justififed for God knows what reason....... Stupidity does comes to mind,,

[Moccasin]

If you think about what Norton is advocating, it can only be accomplished by going door to door and searching every home and business in the area. She uses the restricted air space as an example and wants a larger restricted zone on the ground. The venue has been cleared and sealed long before the president shows up. An outside area around that venue has been cleared too. Short of searching every building, whether it's a business or residence, Norton cannot get what she's asking for. She's just running her mouth to hear it run. I tried emailing her, not that it would matter much, but she flat out admits that she will not read your email if you aren't a D.C. resident. So her theory is that she can advocate things which affect people outside of her constituency but those non-constituents it affects cannot respond to her.

[VBshooter]

Ain't it the truth...That bunch from DC definitely have a Ceaser complex,,WHat;s good for the legion is good for everyone else and don;t even think of suggesting otherwise...Maybe she;s up for reelction and needed to make some noise.Hey maybe we can put Obama in a plastic bowl like the Pope ,Then they'd only have to worry about produce and paint balls!!