Can the president carry?

[The Bubba Effect]

Dude, you are the President. There are unissued M1911s in warehouses in Alabama. You could just order Chief of Staff Kirk Freeman to drive down to Alabama and fetch you a couple.

I would also buy it ftf in a fast food parking lot. It has worked pretty good so far.

 

[philo]

Beat me too it. I would carry the shiniest most polished quality 1911 I could find and put pearl grips on it. Then I would carry it in a leather holster OWB. I would also have the holster embossed with the presidential seal!


and for those that think he should carry a Glock an American president should carry an AMERICAN MADE GUN!!!

Hmmm...ivory grips - "Only a pimp from a cheap New Orleans whorehouse would carry a pearl handled pistol." George Patton

 

[IN_Sheepdog]

Clinton was known as quite a shooter. His aim was bad though. According to some, he was packin'

That is true... Clinton was packin...Monica Lewinsky said so...

 

[MCgrease08]

I would also buy it ftf in a fast food parking lot. It has worked pretty good so far.

The president would still need 50 quality posts to use the classifieds. With the current one that might take a while. I guess he could use some of that campaign dough to become a site supporter.

 

[Titanium_Frost]

Well I'm not sure what I'd carry, but I know I'd carry something. And I wouldn't make a big deal out of it either, I'd simply carry and when asked to explain I'd simply say many states have adopted measures in which their citizens are allowed to carry. I also believe the 2nd amendment gives all Americans such a right, am I not a citizen for the people?
Personally, I'd probably carry what ever the SS carries in order to have interchangeable magazines given a situation arised

FYI: ALL 50 states have provisions for their residents to carry. 45 of them openly.

 

[jedi]

So I was thinking, can the president carry a gun for his own protection?

Are you asking about the legality of a president being able to carry?
The easiest way for a US president to skip all the legal hurdles is to deputize him/herself as a federal law enforcement officer. Thus all state laws go out the window for gun free zones since s/he is an LEO. At the same time all federal laws for gun free zones also go out the window since s/he is a federal LEO.

There are a few members of congress (IIRC Nancy Pelosi is one) that have been deputized federal LEOs so they can carry a firearm while in DC without getting in trouble.

Side not of interested. Federal legislatiors can legally have a firearm inside the congress building. They can freely walk around the federal bldg property without being in legal jeporaty. The legal issue comes that there is no way to legaly get the firearm into the building since you have to walk in/out of DC.

This is a symbolic power thing. Generally you don't do a menial task if you can have others do it for you, especially in a way to show off your power. Rulers usually aren't armed, because they are at the top of a system that, in part, employs legitimized violence to govern. The US president has a whole team of armed people around him. He needs to show that off. Not carrying is actually a sign of power. If the US president carries, he will have to CC. There may be no explicit rules about it, but that's how symbolic power works.

Now, there have been some rulers who associate themselves with guns. They tend to be former military folks who've never managed to remove themselves from the image of "freedom fighter" or "patriotic revolutionary soldier." They need that image, which is a lot closer to arbitrary violence than to legitimized violence, in order to rule. Saddam Hussein is an example. You don't want a ruler who open carries, because that probably means you're in a sh*th*le of a country.

^this!

Here is how it's explain in Schindler's List.

Oskar Schindler: Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't.

Amon Goeth: You think that's power?

Oskar Schindler: That's what the Emperor said. A man steals something, he's brought in before the Emperor, he throws himself down on the ground. He begs for his life, he knows he's going to die. And the Emperor... pardons him. This worthless man, he lets him go.

Amon Goeth: I think you are drunk.

Oskar Schindler: That's power, Amon. That is power.

 

[bingley]

Also, for someone like Roosevelt, a gun would have been a prop for his public image. His stick was "the strenuous life" (The Strenuous Life - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), and he promoted the image of himself as a man of action. In more recent times, Putin also similarly promotes the image of himself as some sort of action hero, wrestling, riding, shooting, checking things out on submarines, etc.

This thread is curious because quite a few people get into this mode of "if I were president, I would do this or that." Presidents, as head politicians of a country, have security and image needs very different from private citizens. They are not like you or me. CC or OC is virtually useless to them. How many presidents warded off assassination attempts because they carried?

 

[Bill of Rights]

A gun for the occupant of the Oval Office to carry? Of course.

In a free society, even those who would oppress others should be able to exercise the RKBA.

 

[HoughMade]

IBT edit

 

[Redhorse]

A gun for the occupant of the Oval Office to carry? Of course.

In a free society, even those who would oppress others should be able to exercise the RKBA.

Believe it or not I saw one of these for sale on armslist.
Yes, I'm asking about the legality of the president carrying. Can a congress member deputize themselves too or do they have to be deputized? That's kind of what it seems from jedis post.

 

[jedi]

Believe it or not I saw one of these for sale on armslist.
Yes, I'm asking about the legality of the president carrying. Can a congress member deputize themselves too or do they have to be deputized? That's kind of what it seems from jedis post.

federal leos belong to the executive branch as such their top boss is the president. only he or his designated appointees (ie. director of dea, director of fbi, etc..) can deputize. so members of congress can not deputized themselves. however the president can deputize anyone s/he please so s/he can deputize a member of congress.

congress i suppose could pass a law (assuming the president would sign it) saying the firearms do not apply to them or they are above the laws etc... not been done that i know of.

 

[Redhorse]

federal leos belong to the executive branch as such their top boss is the president. only he or his designated appointees (ie. director of dea, director of fbi, etc..) can deputize. so members of congress can not deputized themselves. however the president can deputize anyone s/he please so s/he can deputize a member of congress.

congress i suppose could pass a law (assuming the president would sign it) saying the firearms do not apply to them or they are above the laws etc... not been done that i know of.

Ok thanks, I understand now. I figured the president could because of being apart of the executive branch.

 

[mbaza3]

The bigger question is should he carry?

 

[Tinner666]

I'm pretty sure he can carry a bazooka legally if he wants to. Even the CPD wouldn't bother to stop him.

 

[VN Vet]

Should Obama carry a sidearm? Heck no. He is already trigger happy with his pen.

However, if I were president, I would carry a Kahr K40 in a nice shoulder holster when wearing a suit, an IWB when not wearing a jacket and a nice kangaroo pouch, like a 3-Speed when wearing sweat pants and shorts with no belt. I think that would be Super Cool.

 

[jedi]

The bigger question is should he carry?

The current president or any US president?
Carry for what reason? His/her protection? to show power? etc...

As bingley stated nicely power can be displayed in many forms.

 

[LCSOSgt11]

I would submit that he probably doesn't, however, since our Prez seems like he can (and does) do anything he wishes, I should think he could.

I would temper my comment with the observation that our Prez appears to be a "Centrist" (which means AJO liberal), and is probably afraid of pistols, as he has never had the occasion to fire one. He would probably have his Secret Service detail shoot it for him though.

One may wonder why I referred to Obama as our "Prez". He has not earned the title of "Mr. President" yet...and probably will not.