Word: aways
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...perfectly legal - and the Secret Service, charged with protecting the President, insists that it is not unduly alarmed by the development. That's because while the Second Amendment guarantees Americans the right to carry guns, federal law also gives the Secret Service the right to keep gun-toting folks away from the President. (See pictures of gun culture...
...waiting to go inside," says Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan. "They weren't in positions outside the events that we considered a threat to the event in any way." The Secret Service generally has three layers of protection around the President: an inner circle of agents just steps away; a secure building or arena in which the President is appearing, with restricted admission, metal detectors and bomb-sniffing dogs; and finally, an outer perimeter with checkpoints. (See the top 10 Secret Service code names...
...about a dozen people carried guns a block away from the Phoenix convention center where President Obama was speaking, including one man with an AR-15 assault rifle slung over his shoulder. The neatly dressed man carrying the AR-15 - who also had a holstered pistol on his hip - identified himself to a reporter from the Arizona Republic only as Chris as he argued with supporters of Obama's health-reform efforts. Asked why he had brought the guns to the gathering, he answered, "Because I can do it. In Arizona, I still have some freedoms left...
Both Arizona and New Hampshire are "open-carry" states in which it is legal to carry visible weapons in public. But every gun-bearing protester requires the attention of the Secret Service and the local and state police who reinforce their efforts. "If the local police are drawn away to deal with these fools, then there's a vacuum somewhere," Petro says. "Perhaps one of those cops was supposed to be in a critical place where he or she could have stopped someone from doing something to the President. That's a real problem...
...respond to a request for comment on protesters' brandishing guns. But Paul Helmke, who heads the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, says such an act "endangers all in attendance" and that even if their actions are legal, "common sense" should dictate that gun owners keep their weapons away from such gatherings. "Loaded weapons at political forums endanger all involved, distract law enforcement and end up stifling debate," he says. "Presidential protesters need to leave their firearms at home - no exceptions...