Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, ignorantly proclaimed that, “licensed concealed weapons might get loose and fall into the wrong hands.”, and that if he can’t ban guns in downtown Tampa it will increase the threat of violence during the convention. Buckhorn offered no data or anything else to substantiate his claim mostly because none exist. This is old hat, anti-gun rhetoric that somehow legally qualified people will turn criminal during a political convention.
Buckhorn also stated that, “Some of the people that will be here in August are not exactly model citizens.” But I don’t think he was talking about all the lying, cheating and thieving politicians and their lackeys that will descend upon the city. I wonder if the mayor is much concerned about the actions of the Secret Service while they are in town?
Yes, there will be protesters and some of them will, more than likely, become violent much because our society has tolerated a skewing of the First Amendment right to peaceably assemble. Because of a bunch of thugs, who will be bussed into the city to make a scene, why should any citizen have to give up their rights?
Consider if you will the hypocrisy that also exists here with rights. While convention planners are banning every known item that might be used for protests, including how much string you can possess, the Secret Service, i.e. Federal Government has banned guns and other things from anywhere near the convention center. However, while some attendees to the convention have had to cede their rights to self protection, the politicians, I’ll guarantee you, didn’t have to give up theirs.
I can easily predict that any events that end up in violence or result in arrests, etc. will not have come from law abiding citizens – that is those who exercise their right to self protection if they so choose. No, it will come from those citizens Mayor Buckhorn calls “not exactly model”, who more than likely are not legally eligible to carry a concealed weapon.
Once again, we see the ignorant and misguided attempting to steal the rights of law-abiding citizens to some how prevent crimes perpetrated by crooks. Just how is that supposed to work?
Tom Remington
