The Republican National Convention has officially kicked off. While guns are not allowed inside the convention, they are allowed in the outer perimeter. This is considered the soft perimeter or the area outside the convention center. This comes after a deadly shooting at a Trump rally.
It's all due to Wisconsin state law. According to the law in the state, people are allowed to open carry and conceal carry with a permit. This includes in the soft perimeter outside of the Secret Service patrolled inner "hard perimeter." City officials have expressed frustration, especially after the violence at the rally. While guns are allowed, tennis balls and paintball guns are not due to a city ordinance.
So in theory, you can carry an AR-15 outside the convention hall but not a paintball gun.
Republican National Convention Safety
"[It's] utterly ridiculous," Robert Bauman, a Milwaukee City Alderman who proposed adding guns to that city ordinance, told ABC News. "I mean, I could just picture this image of somebody coming up to the entry point with, you know, an AR-15 strapped over one shoulder, a long rifle over another, and two pistols in his belt, and the cops asking him, 'You got any tennis balls?'"
Open carry laws in the state include rifles. "We as a city cannot legislate out of that," Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said at an RNC security press conference on Sunday afternoon. "Unless there's something that is against state law, we have to respect Second Amendment rights, especially in regards to open-carry and conceal-carry if you're licensed."
Following the attempted assassination on Trump, the Secret Service said they made no changes to their security plan for the event.
"This event is designated as a national special security event, which is the highest level of security for an event that can be designated by the government. So, this is a whole of government approach. We've had an extensive planning process to include many organizations," Audrey Gibson-Cicchino said. "There have been no changes to our current operational security plans for this event," she said.
Likewise, they didn't extend the perimeter of the convention either or ban guns in the outer perimeter.
