I have been actively protesting the Iraq war since it began. We were told what we can and cannot have at a protest...we had to use cardboard tubes to hold signs with so as not to have a potentially violent weapon(wooden stick) at the protest we had to make sure that our backpacks did not contain anything that might incite a riot or be misconstrued as dangerous...but at townhalls people can carry m16's across their back or a holstered weapon with a mile of our President? What in the m/ f***ing hell is going on? How is it that the Secret Service are not taking these people down and out within seconds of sighting them? We had to turn our "Arrest Cheney First" shirts inside out in some cases... what is going on? For safety's sake these nuts' 2nd ammendment rights are violating my rights to assemble without fear of intimidation or violence. What is happening? This cannot stand!
I cannot imagine what would have happened had I or any of my fellow 500,000 protestors been carrying a weapon(not even a wooden one) in DC while marching down the blvd. Actually I can imagine...we had helicopters overhead with snipers leaning out the door with cameras and guns( I presume both were loaded). We also were threatened with arrest for going anywhere closer to the Capital bldg than we were, many were arrested. Arrested not for having a weapon or assault or threatening a officer or a president(at the time) but arrested for peacefully assembling in front of the capital bldg.
Different weapons for different times, I guess. We were using people power these people are using fire power.
I think that it cannot be tolerated for 1 more day that people can show up at townhalls or in an assembled audience with weapons. That it is legal to get anywhere near President Obama with a weapon.. loaded or not is untenable. The intimidation that it is presupposing is enough reason to make it illegal. This would not be tolerated if the former president was still in office.. heck.. he had a problem with people wearing shoes let alone a weapon.