I’ve heard that the Republican leadership has been petitioned by those who love the Second Amendment to allow delegates at the Cleveland, Ohio, national convention to bring guns. Loving the Constitution, I can’t help but agree. What could go wrong?
Being that Ohio is an “open-carry” state, I wonder if delegates could be denied this right. And as Wayne LaPierre reminds us, to paraphrase, “all it takes to stop a bad delegate with a gun is a good delegate with a gun.”
Now this federal and state right didn’t help John Crawford, a 22-year-old new father, who was killed by cops while holding a BB gun that was for sale in an Ohio Wal-Mart. Or this open-carry state didn’t protect 12-year-old Tamir Rice in a Cleveland park, shot and killed because he held a toy gun. Done within two to three seconds after the cops arrived!
Latest news is that the Secret Service says “no guns” at the convention. I thought they had pledged, as do almost all public servants, to uphold and honor the Constitution. I could see the private owners of the convention site not allowing guns, though I wonder if they could also not allow nonwhites or non-heterosexuals at the same private venue.
Speaking of denying our constitutional rights to “bear arms” is it illegal for one to own a Thompson machine gun? It’s just an assault rifle on steroids! Not sure about bazookas, are they guns or rocket launchers? And I hear that the NRA offices do not allow guns there. Wonder why. Any problems there could just be resolved by a good guy with a gun to take out any bad guy with a gun.
Finally, I think all courtrooms in the U.S., which we should remember is public property, denies attending with a gun. Hmmm.
Tom Tolg
Greenfield