Packing heat to protest: Gun advocates hold first open-carry rally at national park

They consider the National Rifle Assn. a trifle old-fashioned. After all, despite being one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, the NRA flexes its muscles by talking and enacting laws and boring stuff like that.

These folks are into carrying guns -- lots of weapons of all kinds, some loaded with extra ammo at the ready. They believe that guns are not only protected by the 2nd Amendment but are emblems of their protest against everything they don't like in Washington. Not content to rally weaponless on behalf of their constitutional right to bear arms, they gather while packing heat to rail against healthcare reform, climate change, bank bailouts, drug laws and that "totalitarian socialism" they say President Obama is marketing.

The brandishing of weapons is "not just an important symbol" but "a reminder of who we are," rally organizer Daniel Almond, an Iraq War veteran, told the Washington Post. "The founders knew that it is the tendency of government to expand itself and embrace its own power, and they knew the citizenry had to be reminded of that."

On Monday, the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing and the government siege at Waco, was a tale of two rallies in the nation's capital. Those boring NRA types came to the National Mall to demonstrate for their right to bear arms. As the District of Columbia outlaws handguns, the "Second Amendment March" participants came without any. Or maybe they came unarmed because they believe the power of speech confers more authority than the potency of a rifle. Imagine.

Across the Potomac River, Almond and other self-described patriots made history in Virginia, becoming the first protesters to carry weapons at a rally at Fort Hunt National Park since Obama cleared the way by signing a law allowing guns in national parks. The bill was aimed at preventing credit card companies from charging walloping fees, but Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn added an amendment permitted loaded weapons in national parks. Obama swallowed it.

Parading under the banners of groups such as Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, the "Restore the Constitution" rally featured lots of speeches about demonstrators called the socialist Democratic agenda.

Also lots of guns.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: A protester at the Fort Hunt National Park rally. Credit: Getty Images

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Comments

[Sooner1500]

“The dimensions of our problems overwhelm the imagination. At home millions are unemployed and the growth of our economy has come to a virtual halt. Abroad, we are faced with powerful and unrelenting pressure which threaten freedom in every corner of the globe, and with military power so formidable that it menaces the physical survival of our own nation. To meet these problems will require the efforts not only of our leaders or of the Democratic Party--but the combined efforts of all of our people.; No one has a right to feel that, having entrusted the tasks of government to new leaders in Washington, he can continue to pursue his private comforts unconcerned with American's challenges and dangers. For, if freedom is to survive and prosper, it will require the sacrifice, the effort and the thoughtful attention of every citizen. In my own native state of Massachusetts, the battle for American freedom was begun by the thousands of farmers and tradesmen who made up the Minute Men -- citizens who were ready to defend their liberty at a moment's notice. Today we need a nation of minute men; citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as a basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom. The cause of liberty, the cause of American, cannot succeed with any lesser effort. It is this effort and concern which makes up the New Frontier. And it is this effort and concern which will determine the success or failure not only with Administration, but of our nation itself.” John F. Kennedy January 29, 1961 Roosevelt Day Commemoration Message

Hmmmm. Interesting.

[Tom III]

The LA Times mouths a world view for people, a percentage of the American populace who can not seem to live in harmony with the misrepresented worldview of the people featured in this article. We just want you to leave us the heck ALONE!

I'd rather have the old Democrats back. They may have disagreed vehemently with your point of view, but they had enough respect for free thought not to sink to sophmoric ad hominem arguments.

You hated it when they called they denigrated the Vietnamese insurgents as slants and gooks, the Jews as less then peope, the Palestinians/Iraqis/Afghanis as rag heads, and justly so, but now that you are the ideological imperialists, you revel in it. Pave the way for genocide LA Times. God help you.

Have the courage to read at the Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership --Never again!

Up the Republic!
Tom

[Jud Williams]

The Second Amendment clearly asserts that each state is "free" and able to maintain a militia to remain free. This is unlike many other countries, where local militias are nonexistent. This is one of the unique qualities of the United States. If a foreign power were to invade America, they would have to overrun the militia of each state and each state would in turn have to surrender before the central government is forced to capitulate to such an invading power. The American Civil War is a clear example of how this works as each state of the former Confederacy was required to pledge allegiance to the federal government prior to being readmitted to the Union. It goes without saying that for a militia to be effective, it would necessarily need to possess arms. So why would the amendment go on to say that the people have the right to bear arms? That would be merely stating an obvious redundancy, since a militia is in the business of carrying out military functions, which includes the use of arms. The key to the second part of the amendment is that the "people" have the right to bear arms. By using the word "people," the amendment is stating that it is a right to be enjoyed by all Americans in an inclusive sense.

[Josh-wa]

@ Jud Williams: You make a logical point, but I believe you are overlooking the language. "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." The key term here is a "well regulated Militia." I don't see these people at protests belonging to any "well regulated Militia", but instead seem to be individuals who want the right to carry guns into Starbucks.

Interpretation of this language has been argued quite a bit, but it seems evident to me that the language is stating that it is in fact a well regulated militia that is the key to the security of our country, not the guns themselves. Though as you pointed out, they do point out that guns are part of belonging to a militia, which we could all infer from the term militia. However, the one key part that is always missing from gun advocates is the "well regulated Militia" that none of these people belong to. It seems to me to infer that gun ownership is a right of individuals belonging to a well regulated militia for the purpose of national security and not to mean that any person can walk into Starbucks with a weapon.

[SteeezySea]

I think that these gun protests are a perfect example of ewoodinst. These people have a right to protest for what they feel is a wrong-doing in this country. They are taxpayers, so let 'em protest all they want, the founding fathers woulda been proud!