Republican candidate Donald Trump was surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents after a report that a man holding a ‘Republicans against Trump’ sign was holding a gun.
The man was secured but no gun was found. Shortly, Trump returned to the stage to finish his speech. Apparently, one of the attendees had shouted “gun,” to which Secret Service agents responded accordingly to avoid a public tragedy.
Image Credit: John Locher / AP
What really happened
Secret Service agents got ahold of Austyn Crites, who was holding the “Republicans against Trump” sign. As soon as he took it out, he stated that Trump supporters tried to take it from him as he was booed and molested. 33-year-old Crites stated that Trump supporters grabbed his genitals and hit him without hesitation. He did not strike anyone but Trump supporters took advantage when he was knocked to the ground by the Secret Service agents and proceeded to kick him.
Although they do not cite Crites as a threat, the Secret Service launched investigations to see if he could have held a gun before he was detained. The Secret Service employs magnetometers at campaign rallies so guns can be easily located among a crowd.
Crites, a registered Republican, argues that he wanted to be a voice of frustration for the Republicans that do not support Trump.
“They’re doing their patriotic duty. They support their candidate. I’m just there showing that I’m a Republican. I’m all of your people’s brother. I just have a slight difference of opinion,” Crites stated referring to Trump supporters at the rally.
Later, Crites revealed through a post on Facebook that he stood as a Clinton supporter. He labels the gun incident as an incitation of violence thanks to an authoritarian way of making politics.
Many have wondered that, if Republicans like guns so much, would they allow attendees carry a weapon during a Republican National Convention meeting?
Why are there no guns at the RNC?
A request for just that was filed earlier in March, where the Republican National Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio, a place where people are allowed to carry guns. The petition gathered over 50,000 signatures in less than a week, and even Donald Trump acknowledged that he would read it carefully to see if it was passable.
But seeing that Republicans would happily bring guns to a convention where the attendants still appear divided and with different opinions on politics, the Secret Service denied the petition and stated that only authorized law enforcement personnel could carry firearms at the meeting.
An investigation led by CBS’ Steven Portnoy determined that the man who wrote the petition was a liberal Democrat who is going to vote for Hillary Clinton. The man, only known as “Jim,” knew that his proposal would stir up some controversy, but acknowledged that the RNC would never allow attendants to wield guns.
Jim wanted to know how far the Republicans’ belief in the Second Amendment would go, being sure that the petition would gather a decent number of supporters.
“If they believe this so strongly – that gun-free zones are dangerous – why am I the one raising the stink. I think they should take up the cause. It would bring them up on intellectual consistency,” stated Jim regarding the argument held by Republicans that fewer people would die in shootings if the area of the incident would have allowed gun possession.
Republicans: More guns = Lesser shootings
Donald Trump protects the Republican belief that anyone holding a gun could take down a dangerous individual, which has now become a clear cause for concern. Only in 2015, there were 372 mass shootings, resulting in 475 deaths and 1,870 injuries. The United States’ rate of gun murders per capita stands at 2.9 per 100,000 people, almost 30 times that of the United Kingdom. In the U.S. at least one in three people owns a gun.
“You know what? If I’m in that room and let’s say we have two or five or 40 people with guns, we’re going to do a lot better because there’s going to be a shootout,” stated Trump regarding the terrorist attack in Paris’ Eagles of Death Metal concert, where 89 were killed by three suicide bombers linked to the Islamic State.
On the other hand, Hillary Clinton has emphasized that if elected, she would impose stricter background checks for gun buyers and investigate gun companies that incur in illicit trade. Currently, there is a law that protects gun companies from any legal incident if a gun from a specific company was used in a crime.
This is the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which served to shoot down the lawsuit that a survivor and nine families brought against the seller of the Bushmaster AR-15, which was used to kill 26 teachers and children at the Newtown shooting in 2012, where 20 of them were first-graders.
The lawsuit was based on “negligent entrustment,” which is included in the PLCAA. The solicitors argue that the gun was “designed for mass murder” as it is a military-style assault weapon that was made available to the public. But the suit was dropped, as the judge explained that “this action falls squarely within the broad immunity provided by PLCAA.”
Source: RGJ