Guns allowed, water guns banned in the Republican National Convention event zone

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http://www.cleveland.com/open/index....ns_banned.html

Guns allowed, water guns banned in the Republican National Convention event zone: Here's why

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Water guns. Swords. Sabers.

The city of Cleveland can ban these weapons downtown during the Republican National Convention. But not guns.

Why? Here's our explainer.

What's the law that allows this?
Ohio is an open carry state, which means that anyone who owns a gun legally can holster up in public because there's no law against it. Ohio does have a concealed carry law, so gun owners who want to carry their guns clandestinely must obtain a license from the state. They can carry their hidden weapons in restaurants, malls, bars, nightclubs, museums, sports stadiums and other places.

Why can't the city pass its own law banning guns?
Cleveland officials fought for years in court to regulate guns within the city — andmore often than not, lost. State lawmakers in recent years have expanded gun rights, and those laws have trumped any local efforts to pass regulations. So the city must defer to state gun laws during the convention.

Then how can guns be banned in the Q?
First, let's explain the two protected zones that will encircle Quicken Loans Arena, where the convention takes place July 18-21. Think of it like an inner loop and an outer loop. The outer loop, christened the event zone, spans the entirety of downtown, and Cleveland enforces the rules there. The city last week announced a ban on a hodgepodge of assorted weapons in that area: knives, paintball guns, and axes. But once again, when it comes to guns, the city can't contradict state law.

So unless the Ohio Legislature or Gov. John Kasich intervene, Cleveland will allow guns within the secure outer ring. (The legislature is no longer in session, and it's doubtful that Kasich, a gun rights supporter, would step in.)

But the U.S. Secret Service, not the city, regulates the inner loop, dubbed the secure zone. The federal agency won't announce the boundaries of that highly protected perimeter until shortly before the convention, but it's safe to say it will encase the Q. Secret Service officials have said, as in past years, that guns will not be allowed within the secure zone.

Will you see people with guns downtown during the RNC?
It's unclear if passersby will see gun owners openly carrying their weapons within the event zone. And if gun owners choose to carry concealed weapons, no one could tell anyway.

Ohio Carry, a gun-rights advocacy group, says it will not demonstrate in Cleveland during the convention. The group in the past has demonstrated in Cleveland while openly holding rifles and other firearms to protest gun regulations.

"We respect that the Cleveland police will have their hands full and do not want to add to any confusion," Ohio Carry President Brett Pucillo said in an email.

And Cleveland police will certainly be busy.

What's the plan to keep Cleveland safe?
Cleveland police won't say how many officers will work to keep Cleveland safe during the RNC. And details of the security plan are closely guarded.
But the department is recruiting officers from police departments across the country to bolster its ranks during the convention.

The Cleveland police department in March employed about 850 patrolman, according to a recent arbitrator's decision.

And to get a sense of the law enforcement manpower necessary during the RNC: About 4,000 police officers worked during the Tampa Republican convention four years ago. Roughly three-fourths of those officers were employed by outside agencies working to help Tampa police.

Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams made it clear in an interview Friday that the department will have the manpower to keep Clevelanders and visitors safe.

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The Republican platform hates gays, puts women back in the kitchen, and insists on religious law

Republicans moved on Tuesday toward adopting a staunchly conservative platform that takes a strict, traditionalist view of the family and child rearing, bars military women from combat, describes coal as a “clean” energy source and declares pornography a “public health crisis.”

The platform demands that lawmakers use religion as a guide when legislating, stipulating “that man-made law must be consistent with God-given, natural rights.”

It also encourages the teaching of the Bible in public schools because, the amendment said, a good understanding of its contents is “indispensable for the development of an educated citizenry.”

But nearly every provision that expressed disapproval of sexuality, same-sex marriage or transgender rights passed. The platform calls for overturning the Supreme Court marriage decision with a cons utional amendment and makes references to appointing judges “who respect traditional family values.”

Restricting bathroom access for transgender Americans? It’s in the Republican platform. “Conversion therapy” for parents who want to “cure” their gay children? It’s in the Republican platform. The idea that only a man and a woman together in marriage can properly raise children? It’s in the Republican platform. The Republican platform even has a statement against “cohabitation,” a fight that was lost some time while the Smothers Brothers was in its initial run.

Oh, and when it comes to immigration, Trump’s wall is now an official part of the platform. So is a statement that there should be no limit on the size of magazines for weapons.

The Republicans didn’t just take everything from the already hard-right 2012 platform. They took it all, and made it worse.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/0...28Daily+Kos%29

Tony ing Perkins and David ing Barton on the Repug platform committee. It shows!

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Tim Tebow has a speaking slot at the convention

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Tim Tebow has a speaking slot at the convention

no surprise, Christian Taliban grifters (FRC) wrote their Christian hate planks into the platform.

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Sheriffs in the Colorado county where the Club Q shooting took place have refused to enforce 'red flag' laws and the county declared itself a 'Second Amendment preservation county' (msn.com)