Monday, October 3, 2016

Trump's Henderson Visit and Presidential Gun Free Zones

Presidential candidate Donald Trump is visiting the Henderson Pavilion on Wednesday, October 5 at 11:30 AM (be aware traffic will be nasty if you are near there then). In an open carry friendly state with strict state preemption of local gun laws, this begs the questions; how can guns be kept out.

Honestly, I don't know if the Henderson Pavilion is posted to prohibit concealed carry under NRS 202.3673. Open carry is legal there, regardless, as Henderson does not (and cannot) prohibit it due to state preemption. So how does the Secret Service and police keep some liberal whackjob, mental case, or a terrorist from exploiting our gun laws to assassinate the candidate or other official?

The answer is 18 USC 1752, which is rather broad, but provides admittedly discretionary authority to the Secret Service to protect the event. It  is basically a catch-all section, but surely it's what would be cited should someone insist on carrying anyway and inevitably causing a scene.

Should gun owners try and test the waters? We think not. No need to get on the Secret Service's radar or get proned out to make a point. Just not worth the trouble and you aren't accomplishing anything. Rather, a gentleman's agreement by both sides not to carry and not to go out of the way to harass either side is far. Inside a secure zone, you're about as safe as you're going to get in America, especially with the actual president, not just a candidate, around. Be cool, just don't do it and we can look the other way for maybe this, and only this, kind of thing. Citizens can be a lot more magnanimous towards our government than government can be towards us.

Of course, what kind of activists would we be if we didn't point out the obvious disparity between the protections received by politicians and candidates and the hoi pilloi? On an absolutest platform should you be able to carry around the president? Yes, but it's not worth the trouble to fight it when actually presidential security is probably the one arena where history tells us that such precautions might actually be warranted. We don't have to like it, but then again we certainly don't like people killing our leaders, whether they're popular or not.

Don't carry, don't stage an open carry protest. Just think of November and the Supreme Court, and if you're outside, watch out for the liberals who might try to attack you. Be more worried about places that try to illegally disarm you when there isn't even a single cop around.

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