Open Carry at the RNC: Exactly as Expected. No Problems

By Dean Weingarten

Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- Open carry in Cleveland Ohio at the Republican National Convention has been hyped by those that want to disarm the population.  A scam petition was created to open carry inside the convention floor.  It was run by a “progressive” to create problems for Second Amendment supporters.  It did not last for long or fool many. The Quicken Loans location is a private concern.

Then the head of the Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association published a hysterical rant about how the Constitution need not apply.  He wanted the citizenry disarmed. From cnn.com:

“We are sending a letter to Gov. Kasich requesting assistance from him. He could very easily do some kind of executive order or something — I don’t care if it’s constitutional or not at this point,” Stephen Loomis, president of Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, told CNN. “They can fight about it after the RNC or they can lift it after the RNC, but I want him to absolutely outlaw open-carry in Cuyahoga County until this RNC is over.” 

Governor Kasich showed much more class and understanding of limited government, the separation of powers and Constitutionally protected rights.  He said no, he did not have the power to do so.

Senator Sherrod Brown (D) Ohio, thought the Governor could do something!  At least when he was talking to the Police Union. From cleveland.com:

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Sen. Sherrod Brown has joined the call for Gov. John Kasich to suspend Ohio’s open carry law during the Republican National Convention this week.

“I would hope that the governor would listen to the police union and suspend conceal and open carry in Ohio, in Cleveland, during this convention,” Brown said in an appearance in Cincinnati, as reported by BuzzFeed.

Open Carriers showed up, just as they promised.  They did not bother anyone, they caused no trouble.  They simply exercised their Constitutional rights. From qz.com:

 Standing with their legs wide apart, their holstered guns on their hips or thighs, a handful of Donald Trump supporters decided to assert their Second Amendment rights at the America First rally in Cleveland’s riverside Settlers Landing Park on July 18, the first day of the Republican National Convention–just like they promised they would before the event.

From npr.org:

Clayton Allen, 21, walked right up to the 8-foot fence surrounding the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

He drove from Kentucky and he stood out from the crowd because he had a handgun strapped to his hip.

“I open-carry all the time,” Allen said. “The Republican convention would not be the exception.”

Open carriers at the RNC worked out exactly as Second Amendment supporters predicted.  No problems.  No one shot.  Not one open carrier arrested. Governor Mary Fallin from Oklahoma reitterated  what Governor Kasich had stated earlier.  From cnn.com:

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, who will attend and speak at the RNC, backed Kasich during an appearance Monday on CNN’s “New Day.”

“The governor just can’t automatically just do away with open carry,” she said. “There’s a constitution, there’s statutes, there’s laws and he has to obey those. … I take the police union’s concerns very seriously. But the governor doesn’t have, according to him, the executive power to do that.”

The Governors probably had to say that they took the Police Union President’s concerns seriously.  I suppose it it the political thing to do.  But there really were no concerns that deserved serious consideration.  Open carry has been legal in Ohio since it was a state.  It has never been a problem.  It has been done in 90% of the states without a problem.  Open carriers are far more law abiding than the general population.  They are just people who are serious about standing up for their rights.

Near the end of the Convention, the Police Chief, who did not make a big deal about open carry,  was questioned. From fox8.com:

As for the issue of Ohio’s open-carry law, the chief said that it really hadn’t been an issue at all. “Nobody’s been arrested or has challenged the things we asked them to do,” he said.

That was what was expected by people who understand the reality of open carry in the United States.  That was what happened.  And that is the way that it should be.  The Constitution means things.  Rights are not to be done away with by executive orders.  Ordered liberty supports and protects civilization, it does not threaten it.

The are many things for police to be worried about in today’s society.  Open carry is not a serious concern.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

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About Dean Weingarten;

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.