… if state laws allow, which is quite reasonable.

Such is the headline from the Washington Post. All in response to the “law-abiding citizen with a gun somewhere in the vicinity of the President” stuff that’s been going on lately. Commented on here and here. (h/t to Joe Huffman)

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said people are entitled to carry weapons outside such events if local laws allow it. “There are laws that govern firearms that are done state or locally,” he said. “Those laws don’t change when the president comes to your state or locality.”

Exactly. As mentioned previously, the folks in Arizona were totally within legal bounds, worked with the local police. They were far more upstanding citizens in their actions than most protesters tend to be.

Of course, Paul Helmke voiced his expected hysteria:

“What Gibbs said is wrong,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “Individuals carrying loaded weapons at these events require constant attention from police and Secret Service officers. It’s crazy to bring a gun to these events. It endangers everybody.”

So, following the law is wrong. Thanx, Paul. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.

And you’re saying that these law-abiding and right-exercising citizens need more babysitting than other folks at the event? Why? Oh that’s right, they have a gun and thus are immediately dangerous and scary. Funny how those folks in Arizona didn’t turn the event into the bloodbath that Helmke apparently predicts is imminent.

I fail to see who was endangered (other than Helmke’s agenda and job). Even the Secret Service said that there’s no danger.

If guns are so dangerous, I guess we should disarm the police and the Secret Service too. If guns are bad, then guns are bad. If people are endangered by the mere presence of lead and steel and levers and springs, then they’re endangered period. But you see, that’s the kicker. It’s not the gun that’s good or bad, it’s the person using the tool. Guns in the hands of good people do good. Guns in the hand of bad people do bad. It’s not the inanimate object, it’s the person. So we just had a bunch of good people out there doing good, but apparently somehow that endangers folks.

Frankly, the White House saying what they did was the best and really only move they could make. That is, they uphold the law.