No, it makes no sense to me. Perhaps someone will come and enlighten us.

The gun lobby is strong in Florida.

It sounds like complete lunacy. I am not surprised though.

I notice that hoodies, skittles, and canned iced tea are allowed, so I imagine the attendees will be allowed to carry guns to protect themselves from the deadly threats posed by all of the former. ;-)

Florida… GOP… what makes you think it’s supposed to make sense?

Exactly where does it state that hanguns are permissable?

Common sense must prevail here.

If you cannot carry your brass knuckles to the meeting, you know darn well that firearms are forbidden.

Did they really need to tell us this??

Under Florida law, they can’t ban handguns.

…state law does not allow local governments to enact any laws regulating guns, City Attorney Jim Shimberg Jr. said.

“The Legislature says that basically the state is going to occupy that whole field,” Shimberg said Monday. “Even if we tried to regulate it, it would be null and void.”

Link

“GOP” and “making sense” are mutually exclusive concepts.

Sorry I didn’t include that link. @jaytkay thanks for providing.

Guns are not allowed in the convention center itself, because Secret Service has jurisdiction. But these rules apply to all surrounding areas.

Logic and the GOP are mutually exclusive. What other explanation is there.

Personally, I’m going to be there checking for people with shoestrings longer than 6 inches. Such dangerous miscreants must be stopped before they hurt one of us innocent civilians. And my Pfeifer-Zeliska .600 Nitro Express Magnum should stop ‘em.

@ETpro I don’t know. I don’t think you can get an extended magazine for one of those. God knows what a maniac could do with that much string while you’re stuck reloading.

No, not much at all. It seems very similar to the rules and regs that were put into effect during the G-8 and various summit meetings recently. And there is a lot of fear, I imagine, that the Occupy <location> movement will decide to roost down there.

But the question you need to ask: What are the Republicans so afraid of? The revolt of the masses?

Somewhat reminiscent of the French Revolution, if you ask me. And we all know that it was the rich that were beheaded…

@fundevogel I’ve thought of that. It’s a serious threat, but I have a plan. I’m packing my Smith and Wesson 500 Magnum and before the attacker can get his shoe unlaced I can pump 5 more high-impact 50 cal magnums into his head. You can’t be too prepared if a guy’s going to come at you with a foot-long piece of string, you know.

@elbanditoroso Here’s what the elite of ANY party need to fear if they decide to adopt neo-fascism and lock up anybody who doesn’t walk in lock-step with them. Who’s going to clean the sewers for them when all the working stiffs in the 99% are locked up?

The city of Charlotte, NC, is going to receive a $50 million federal grant for security at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. The city is going to spend $25 million on “undisclosed weapons” for law enforcement to use during the event. The DNC has a set of similar banned items.

One thing that strikes me as funny about the DNC convention, other than the fact that Obama is expected to give his acceptance speech in the “Bank of America” arena, is the fact that the DNC Convention rules will permanently remove the Occupy Charlotte protesters from the area. Remember Obama’s, “You guys are the reason I ran for office,” comment?

What most people seem to forget is that virtually anything can be used as a weapon.

@CaptainHarley , while that is true, I think the greater question is worth considering.

That is: why does the political process (and by extension, the candidates and their electors) have to be so insulated from the population?

@CaptainHarley True, I find the fact that mistletoe is missing from the list particularly troubling.

@CaptainHarley

I don’t think the question is asking for any rational thought. Merely mindless derision. Your comment stands in stark contrast to the bulk of the comments.

I’m surprised they aren’t insisting on covering the whole area with a cone of silence, as we all know words can be used as weapons.

”…or any container containing urine, fecal matter or other bodily fluid.”

Damn…~

@Jaxk Don’t look at me. My derision referenced the 2011 Tuscon shooting and the use of seemingly harmless materials as weapons in Norse mythology.

Condesceding? Yes. Mindless? No.

The problem with @CaptainHarley‘s statement: “What most people seem to forget is that virtually anything can be used as a weapon” is that while you can turn many things into a weapon that is not their primary purpose. The stuff we’re mocking for inclusion on the list is stuff that is primarily used for perfectly harmless purposes. A gun however is designed to cause injury or death. That is it’s purpose. As such it is inherently ridiculous to ban relatively harmless items while allowing items explicitly designed to be weapons.

@CaptainHarley You were (are?) a cop. There’s a reason sentences are automatically increased when a crime is commited with a gun, but not with a shoelace and I’m betting as an officer knowing a suspect had a gun had a much greater influence on how you engaged a situation than the presence of 6 inches of string.

@fundevogel

For a mercifully brief period I was a Deputy Sheriff for St. Mary’s County, Maryland, but that is the extent of my constabulary experience. : )

Most of my military experience was in insurgency and counterinsurgency operations, which is an entirely different ball of wax.

They didn’t say anything about banning grenade launchers either!

@CaptainHarley Ah, thanks for the clarification. That would be a very different beast.

@fundevogel

Indeed! : )

@CaptainHarley Yes, you can use ordinary items as weapons. But when a speaker is protected by the secret service, what’s more likely, that you’ll manage to strangle him with a piece of string, it that you blow his head off from 50 yards way with an accurate and powerful handgun?

@ETpro

It’s more likely that I’ll keep at least several hundred miles between me and anyone protected by the Secret Service! : )

there is no way your aim is that good.

@ragingloli

Indeed! : )

@ragingloli & @CaptainHarley Wanna bet your life on that? Disclaimers required.

@CaptainHarley Now I’m not going to tell you I can shoot like this, but here’s video of a guy nailing a target from 352 years with a Glock 10 and standard sights. Still want to take that 50-yard bet? :-)

@ETpro

“Now I’m not going to tell you I can shoot like this, but here’s video of a guy nailing a target from 352 years with a Glock 10 and standard sights.”

So would he be shooting from the year 1660 or 2364 to nail that target? ;-)

@ETpro

When I was considerably younger, a shot of a mile with an M-14 was feasable. Now? [ shrug ]Who knows?

When a guy is at a shooting range, isn’t it a bit different than when a guy is in a crowd of people?

On another note: I wish @john65pennington would come back and address how “common sense must prevail here. Do they really need to tell you this?” coincides with the Florida gun laws that would allow guns while disallowing rope, bats, sticks, etc.

Well, I shot an elephant gun once. It really, really hurt.

@Dutchess_III You fired a .468 rifle? Holy shit. I’m surprised your shoulder blades aren’t touching in back. I’ve held a round. They’re enormous.

@CaptainHarley Copy that, my aging friend. At 68, with the tremors of age, 50 yards is a real stretch for me. 350 yards is insane. But not all assassins are going to be my age. I say again, who is more dangerous at 50 yards, a man with a piece of string over 6 inches long, or a man with a Glock 10?

@Dutchess_III The 600 Nitro Express I linked to up here is actually a rifle intended as an elephant gun and modified into a pistol. Here’s it’s 700 Nitro Express big brother in action.

@ETpro

Just as all “assassins” are not the same age, so not all “assassins” are equally skilled. Some of the self-styled “assassins” of my acquaintence would have great difficulty hitting the side of a barn using a Glock, while others I know would be very effective using a shoelace on a target at close range. : )

As to the 50 yards, no self-respecting “assassin” except a sniper would attempt engaging a target at that distance.

It hurt @Adirondackwannabe. I didn’t do it twice.

@CaptainHarley You just can’t bring yourself to admit that handguns kill far more people in America than pieces of string, or sticks, or baseball bats. It must be easier living in a world where only facts that support your ideology matter.

@ETpro

Say what? I deny no such thing! How the hell did you get from what I wrote above to accusing me of denying facts?? I would have said something like “more people are killed with guns each year” than with whatever, but I certainly would not deny it. WTF, over??

@CaptainHarley You alleged that string, sticks and bats can be weapons. I said true, but only up close and personal, and since that we have argued on as infinitum about what’s lethal at 50 yards.

The candidates at the convention will have secret service protection. They won’t get killed by sticks, or bats, or pieces of string. But because people are allowed to enter the convention hall with loaded firearms one just might get shot. just saying.

@ETpro, demonstators are going to be outside the perimeter Secret Service establishes and must obtain permits and follow strick rules. We don’t know yet where that protest area will be.

Weapons will not be allowed inside the convention center. “Only law enforcement officers working in their official capacity will be allowed to carry guns into the perimeter, Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie said.”

“The Secret Service will check credentials and use metal detectors to scan every person going inside the security perimeter. Only law enforcement officers working in their official capacity will be allowed to carry guns into the perimeter, Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie said.”

.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/permitted-concealed-firearms-would-be-allowed-in-gop-convention-protest/1223099

@bkcunningham Thanks. The hysterical coverage I had read made it appear guns would be allowed inside the convention itself.