ARMED MEN seen mixing with protesters outside recent events held by US president Barack Obama acted within the law, the White House has said, attempting to allay fears of a security threat.
Demonstrators at Obama events have sought to assert the right to bear arms in protest at what they see as his support for the anti-gun lobby.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said individuals were entitled to carry weapons outside such events if their states allowed it. “There are laws that govern firearms that are done state or locally,” he said. “Those laws don’t change when the president comes to your state or locality.”
Anti-gun campaigners disagreed, voicing fears that volatile debates over healthcare reform were more likely to turn violent if gun control was not enforced.
“What Gibbs said is wrong,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “Individuals carrying loaded weapons at these events require constant attention from police and secret-service officers. It’s crazy to bring a gun to these events. It endangers everybody.”
In the past week there has been a spate of armed men milling outside meetings Mr Obama has held to defend his healthcare reform package. On Monday, a man with a semi-automatic assault rifle strapped to his shoulder was outside a veterans’ event in Phoenix, Arizona, one of a dozen men reportedly carrying guns outside the forum. Police made no arrests, saying Arizona law allowed weapons to be carried in the open.
Last week, a man with a gun strapped to his leg held a sign outside a townhall meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, that read: “It’s time to water the tree of liberty.”
Before the same meeting, held by Mr Obama, the secret service arrested New Hampshire resident Richard Terry Young for allegedly having a loaded, unlicensed gun in his car. Mr Young was caught inside the school where Mr Obama held the forum, having reportedly sneaked past a security perimeter.
Lawmakers holding high tension townhall debates about healthcare reform have also seen armed constituents, and some are now taking precautions to guard against guns being brought into gatherings.
Brian Levin, director of the Centre for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, said concern about whether Mr Obama would enact new gun restrictions may have contributed to the tense political climate. “There’s a lot of anger out there,” he said. “A key thing that’s been bubbling under the surface is what’s going on with president Obama and guns.” – (LA Times-Washington Post service)