Gee Whiz – Secret Service Says No Guns at Republican Convention

RncsealHere is a real shocker.  As we guessed in our comment on our previous post about a petition to allow firearm carry at the Republican National Convention, the Secret Service does not want a bunch of random armed people around the event.  They are apparently still expecting a fair turnout of loons, as Cleveland shells out a $1.5M brokerage fee to AON Risk Services for a $10M “protest insurance” policy for the event.

The Secret Service says only authorized law enforcement will be allowed to carry firearms at the Republican Party nominating convention, ignoring an online petition calling for convention attendees to also be permitted to carry them.

The petition, started anonymously last week on Change.org, has attracted the signatures of over 50,000 people who said they want the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, which is hosting the convention, to reverse its ban on weapons.

The Secret Service, which is responsible for security at the July event, said in a statement that only “authorized law enforcement partners…may carry a firearm inside of the protected site.”

“Individuals determined to be carrying firearms will not be allowed past a predetermined outer perimeter checkpoint, regardless of whether they possess a ticket to the event,” the statement added.

The three remaining Republican U.S. presidential candidates have each advocated allowing people to openly carry firearms. Both Texas Senator Ted Cruz and businessman Donald Trump have criticized so-called gun-free zones, especially schools, saying those policies make the sites less safe.

Many of those sharing the petition on Twitter are less interested in the issue for reasons of defending 2nd Amendment rights to firearms than pushing the Republican Party on its adherence to the issue.

Firearms were also banned at the previous Republican convention, which was held in Tampa in 2012.

There are already concerns that this year’s convention will be testier than usual, especially if no Republican presidential candidate has emerged as the party’s nominee.

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