Concealed Weapons OK At RNC But Not Camera Stands

So the Republican National Convention is coming up and there is a lot of focus on the protestors, the emptying of the jails and the drones being deployed. They're pretty serious over there. Save for when it comes to guns inside the convention itself -

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is soundly rejecting a request from Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn to ban guns at the Republican National Convention.

Buckhorn wrote Scott a two-page letter on Tuesday asking Scott to temporarily prohibit the types of weapons the city cannot regulate, including guns carried with a state concealed-weapons permit, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

"Normally, licensed firearms carried in accordance with the Florida statute requirements do not pose a significant threat to the public," the mayor wrote. "However, in the potentially contentious environment surrounding the RNC, a firearm unnecessarily increases the threat of imminent harm and injury to the residents and visitors of the city."

Thousands of protestors are expected to descend on Tampa during the August 27-30 convention, and they may be armed because of a state law allowing concealed weapons. Buckhorn implored Scott to issue an executive order banning firearms in downtown Tampa for those four days.

Source

So Guns are ok but camera stands aren't. This guy just had his camera stand taken from him because there was a 'pointy end' on one of the legs (for planting into the ground).



I think this is overly paranoid and kind of BS harassment from the Tampa PD...yeah, I get that they are shills for a system that smiles while they continue abridging the rights of many but to be this strict two days before the convention when he is obviously there as a citizen journalist (which implies non violent observation) is over the top...

When ya get super wealthy and powerful you get less illuminated.

Definitely not the brightest bulbs on the xmas tree running this world.


THATS actually good news.

We will see how this plays out but i have to say that after what we just saw in NYC and the police shooting innocents, I have a rotten feeling about this. What if some of the citizens had been armed in NYC the morning of the empire state shootings and saw the police shooting innocents? Would anyone have jumped in to shoot the cops? I dont know this is crazy. I suppose they want to be able to protect the status quo.

Originally posted by superluminal11
When ya get super wealthy and powerful you get less illuminated.

Definitely not the brightest bulbs on the xmas tree running this world.


THATS actually good news.

I don't know. I think it is safe to say that there won't be an incident directed at the politicians this RNC. This is all directed at the protestors and the protestors are there for freedom of speech...which has to be done non violently or their message gets lost. To target a cameraman is to be focusing on the only media competition in the area...media equals control of how people perceive the RNC (important with the election coming up) and protestors need to be demonized instead of being given a sympathetic view. The protestors with cameras are the only way to balance the bias of mainstream media.

My monopod doesn't have a spike at the end. Even without it it's an awesome weapon. Trust me I can vouch for it. However if you allow concealed guns then bitching about a monopod is just plain silly.

Originally posted by PsykoOps
My monopod doesn't have a spike at the end. Even without it it's an awesome weapon. Trust me I can vouch for it. However if you allow concealed guns then bitching about a monopod is just plain silly.

Lots of items can be used as weapons and there are ways to sneak in real weapons (I do not support the use of weapons so I do not support violence within protests). So to focus on something that is actually a tool being used for what it was made for is harassment.

Originally posted by PsykoOps
My monopod doesn't have a spike at the end. Even without it it's an awesome weapon. Trust me I can vouch for it. However if you allow concealed guns then bitching about a monopod is just plain silly.

My monopod doesn't have a pointed end either? I've never even seen a monopod with a pointy end (what would even by the purpose of jabbing a monopod into the ground?) My monopod has little feet that splay out so that it has more stability and doesn't get stuck in the ground.

I'm betting these guys tore the little rubber stump off the bottom (since 99.99% of monopods have rubber bottoms) and either it was made in a point or sharpened it into a point.

OR .. it's a walking stick they are claiming is a monopod.

Actually quite a few have a spike at the end. Most usefull for winter conditions. Sometimes it's under a rubber foot and the user might not even know it's there.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
I'm betting these guys tore the little rubber stump off the bottom (since 99.99% of monopods have rubber bottoms) and either it was made in a point or sharpened it into a point.

OR .. it's a walking stick they are claiming is a monopod.

Nope. Factory condition. I'll ask them to bring it next time one of them rolls through here and sleeps on my floor if that would rest doubt in that direction...

Friends before Occupy for years with all three of them...

reply to post by PsykoOps


Hmm. Even searching for spiked monopods I could not find any. I found plenty of addition spikes that go onto bases of certain models. I'm just saying that I understand why the police were questioning the spiked monopod. I don't think they should have taken it, because it was not being used as a weapon, but I also have to wonder why bring a spiked monopod to an urban setting at all?

Yeah it's in the base in all models that I've seen It's quite good on gravel etc. and on asphalt too if it's a good quality one that you can sink at least 1cm to the ground. I don't see a problem with having one in an urban enviroment. You dont necessarily use the spike at all times especially if you need to use the monopod to raise your camera over a crowd for example. I myself use mine mostly attached to the camera with my small camera bag hanging from it. It's a quick and dirty tool for stabilizing the camera for video.