Protester seen with gun outside Obama town hall

President Obama traveled to Portsmouth, New Hampshire Tuesday for what many feared could be a rowdy ‘town hall-style’ meeting at a time when some foes of his healthcare overhaul have shouted down lawmakers holding similar events around the country. But no such disruptions occurred at the event.

Earlier, MSNBC’s Ron Allen reported that cameras filmed a protester with a handgun strapped to his leg the meeting before Obama arrived. The man was seen carrying a sign saying “It’s time to water the tree of liberty.”

The man’s “tree of liberty” sign is a reference to Thomas Jefferson, who said “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

Source Link: rawstory.com...

IMO I believe the opinion from the anchor and guest reporting this story on MSNBC is rediculious, he is obviously not a threat, the cheif of police checked him out and even the Church authorities has given him permision to be on that property.

I for one believe that if he was meaning to do something bad, the weapon would not be displayed, he would be in line to get in the Town Hall Meeting and would go nuts from that point but he's doing nothing wrong but practicing his Constitutional Right to bare his arms out in the open. This is great!

I will add that most likely the Church authorities will be hearing from the SS and DHS soon threatening to pull their tax exempt privledges due to supporting this guy's right to carry his gun on their property.

NOTE: I need to add this observation, notice the ear piece in his eye. Provocateur or Patriot?

What say's you all?

Latest update of the person carrying a gun to protest healthcare.


[edit on 06/03/2009 by Rams59lb]

This is New Hampshire. Open carry is lawful. People love doing it at political events/rallies and the like.

Not news unless he's waving it around and yelling.

New Hampshire and open carry: www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 11-8-2009 by thisguyrighthere]

If the dude was going within the letter of the law and had permission to carry on church grounds (which is normally a no-no baring extenuating circumstances) then I say kudos to him, people need to get over this moronic fear of firearms and learn that they are a tool like anything else. Also nobody can say he was carrying irresponsibly as the holster looks to be of the tactical variety with the inside thumb break to keep the weapon secure in its holster.

reply to post by Rams59lb


I don't support Obama very much. And I am pro-Gun in every respect, but common sense says you cannot carry a firearm anywhere near the sitting President!!

I know a guy that was locked up for 72 hours before a Bush Sr. visit, because he joked about shooting him during a poker game 60 miles away!!

So, Town Hall protests = GREAT! Right to carry = GREAT
Putting them together for a presidential visit = INSANE!!

Originally posted by Rams59lb


I for one believe that if he was meaning to do something bad, the weapon would not be displayed, he would be in line to get in the Town Hall Meeting and would go nuts from that point but he's doing nothing wrong but practicing his Constitutional Right to bare his arms out in the open. This is great!

I'm not sure what the laws are in New Hampshire, but here in Florida carrying a gun out in the open is a surefire way to get arrested.

You don't have a constitutional right to bear arms out in the open. There's a reason they call it a concealed carry permit. Also, most states ban people from carrying weapons to public events such as town hall meetings.

However, according to the story he was on private property (a church), and the owners of that property were allowing him to carry the weapon out in the open, so he wasn't violating any laws. All considered, you can bet he was 'removed' before Obama got to the meeting.

reply to post by getreadyalready


I agree competely with you post except for the insane part. He is not and was not going to attend the town hall meeting. His plan was to stay on church property to protest while legally carrying his weapon which is what I am supporting.

Let's just say he was going to attend the meeting, I am more then sure that he would unstrap and remove his weapon while securing it some place far away so that he can attend know that it wouldn't be allowed in with him.

My point is: If he was dangerious, he wouldn't have it out in the open, he wouldn't be on the church property but instead would be trying to get inside the meeting hall to get to Obama.

MSNBC is simply misleading the public with another attempt to make race an issue if you really listen to what the anchor says.

reply to post by drwizardphd


You will find that I can't disagree with anything you said! He is within his rights and that is the bottom line. For me this OP should really be reporting the angle that the MSM is playing into the racial fears of people by using this guy and others who disagree with this admin.

The MSM does it's best to NOT report how many african americans are not happy with this admin and do not agree with the direction it is going in and when one or two are allowed to be speak out against the admin they are painted as right-wing conservitives instead of simply not happy as an American.

From MSNBC:

He's passing out a bookmark that says, "Join the Second Amendment Revolution, the most exciting pro-liberty movement in over 200 years."

He's a Ron Paul supporter, who opposes just about everything Obama, including health care reform.

The local police say he is within his rights to carry a handgun openly under state law. He was carrying a 9-mm Smith and Wesson strapped to his lower leg.

Police say he's OK on a public sidewalk. Kostric says he has permission from a church just down the street from the high school to be on its private property. Source

reply to post by Rams59lb

MSNBC is simply misleading the public with another attempt to make race an issue if you really listen to what the anchor says.

AGREED! This will totally get blown out of proportion and the MSM will make him look like some crazy racist, while FOX will overly defend him and make us all look crazy! I wish some middle ground could be attained in the press!

Carrying a gun in a legal manner is a good example of how it is supposed to be done, and could serve as an educational experience for the more naive citizens. I was not calling him insane, I was only stating that trying to bring a weapon to a presidential visit is insane.

I always carry my gun, and I have had to run back to the car a couple of times when I forget that I am going into a courthouse, or a school. I think the Tea Party Protests would be a great place to exercise this right. I also think we need to be very careful to not provide video clips or soundbites to the MSM that could make us all look crazy! They are already calling the concerned citizens exercising their rights of assembly an "Angry Mob."

As the years have passed the government has come to fear the people more and more.

I find any concern over someone openly armed near a sitting presidential visit to be reasonable.

However, detaining him is unconstitutional.

If he remained as he was, he should have been left alone and watched by local authorities. But then, the MSM couldn't have as much media share time if they simply acknowledged it as an American privilege and got on with covering the story at hand....

Everything political is gold to them.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere

The local police say he is within his rights to carry a handgun openly under state law. He was carrying a 9-mm Smith and Wesson strapped to his lower leg.

Police say he's OK on a public sidewalk. Kostric says he has permission from a church just down the street from the high school to be on its private property. Source

BIG KUDOS to the Police for using restraint, common sense, and order of law in this instance! They could easily have pinned a number of violations on him just to pacify the press.

They correctly ignored:
Demonstrating without a permit, Vending without a license, menacing, brandishing, or just simply locked him up for 24 hours without cause!

I'll bet some out-of-state pinko's almost passed their little green apples when they saw this.

Good for him. Law abiding, on private property, and things like this just may give some of those Union thugs something to think about.

Certainly gave that reporter something to think about!

Good for New Hampshire.

Sounds more like New Hampshire and the Southern states have more in common than the last time around.

He has a earpeice in his right ear.
FBI,CIA plant?

Originally posted by Paul3
He has a earpeice in his right ear.
FBI,CIA plant?

He does have an earpiece! Very apparent at 2:04 in the video if you pause it.

If he was a plant, he would not have an earpiece, that would be too suspicious. Maybe Secret Service? Thus, need for weapon, and police approval?

reply to post by Rams59lb


I'm sure it was a fully automatic assault pistol. That Thomas Jefferson quote was so unAmerican, we should probably ban it and stricken it from all of the records..

Better yet lets ban all town hall meetings because there are scary extremist there with swastika's on their arms and automatic weapons.

[edit on 11-8-2009 by Digital_Reality]

reply to post by getreadyalready


Your post along with the prior one hit's it on the head, so why is MSNBC not reporting that but instead a white guy with a gun while an historical president on the way might be in danger lol... Both of you, great post!

reply to post by getreadyalready


If he was a "Free Stater" he may have just been on with other "Free Staters." They're pretty organized. They do so to support each other if one gets harassed by an overzealous cop or non-local who thinks they "know the law" as per their slave state of origin.

The only thing I could think of if it is a plant is making it national news that NH has an open carry policy thereby putting pressure on the state to adopt more "slave" laws. Or, whoever put in the plant is a raving moron and didnt realize open carry in NH is as common as maple syrup in VT.

reply to post by Paul3


It could also be a hand-free setup for a cell phone, I know plenty of people who use them instead of bluetooth headsets because they don't like the extra weight on their ear.

reply to post by Digital_Reality


I'm not sure what to say to your post but I do appreciate your comments.

MSNBC is simply misleading the public with another attempt to make race an issue if you really listen to what the anchor says

And to further make the protesters look worse than what alot of them are. I guarantee the most extreme are being portrayed by the MSM, which makes everyone else look bad too.

If he were CIA, FBI or Secret Service, why would he be wearing his gun where it showed? Usually they don't do that, do they? I would think that they would want to look inconspicuous. I can see the video. Ipod or something, maybe?