More "Legal" guns Greet Obama in Arizona.

At least ten people stood outside the convention center in Phoenix, Arizona where President Barack Obama was speaking on Monday carrying guns, one of which was a military type assault rifle. According to state law they were doing nothing illegal but it certainly made for a chilling sight. This is the second time in a week that such a display of arms has greeted the President at a public appearance and some people worry that a dangerous precedent is being set.

In Arizona it is legal to carry a firearm as long as it is not concealed, just as it is in New Hampshire where a man was observed to be standing in church grounds near the Portsmouth high school where the President held a town hall meeting to discuss his health care reforms.

The display in Arizona had, to many observers, a far more menacing tone than the display in New Hampshire. The man who was carrying the powerful AR-15 semi-automatic rifle slung over one shoulder refused to give his name when he was approached by Arizona Republic journalists but he did tell them that he was carrying his gun simple because the law states that he can "In Arizona, I still have some freedoms," he said.

Phoenix police detective J. Oliver said that they were monitored the man and his fellow gun-toters carefully, both for the President's safety and their own. "Just by his presence and people seeing the rifle and people knowing the president was in town, it sparked a lot of emotions," Oliver said. "We were keeping peace on both ends."

Fred Solop, who is a political scientist at Northern Arizona University, is concerned about the apparently growing trend. "When you start to bring guns to political rallies, it does layer on another level of concern and significance," Solop said. "It actually becomes quite scary for many people. It creates a chilling effect in the ability of our society to carry on honest communication."
He added that he had never before heard of anyone actually bringing a gun as powerful as an assault rifle anywhere near a presidential appearance before, "The larger the gun, the more menacing the situation," he said.

Paul Helmke who is president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a program named for James Brady, former White House press secretary to Ronald Reagan who was paralyzed by a would be assassin's bullet, agrees.

"To me, this is craziness," he said. "When you bring a loaded gun, particularly a loaded assault rifle, to any political event, but particularly to one where the president is appearing, you're just making the situation dangerous for everyone."