At the Republican National Convention, guns are one item that will be allowed inside the “soft perimeter” surrounding the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, where delegates and officials are congregating.
Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) tried to ask law enforcement to keep guns out of the zone, but his request was shot down because Wisconsin state laws allow individuals to carry firearms openly and conceal-carry with a permit within the “soft perimeter,” which surrounds the inner “hard perimeter” patrolled by the Secret Service.
After the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, the situation is facing increased scrutiny, and security protocols are being reevaluated. But while guns are still on the list of items allowed, law enforcement officials have banned several other items inside the “soft perimeter,” including tennis balls, ladders, and paintball guns.
Yet, it excludes most firearms and only bans weapons that are already prohibited by state law, such as machine guns, silencers, fully automatic weapons, and short-barreled shotguns.
Secret Service spokeswoman Alexi Worley said prohibiting guns in the broader security “footprint” is beyond the federal agency’s jurisdiction and “not something the U.S. Secret Service has any control over.”
“[It’s] utterly ridiculous,” Robert Bauman, a Milwaukee City alderman who proposed adding guns to the city ordinance, told ABC News.
“I mean, I could just picture this image of somebody coming up to the entry point with, you know, an AR-15 strapped over one shoulder, a long rifle over another, and two pistols in his belt, and the cops asking him, ‘You got any tennis balls?’”
State laws prevent local governments from imposing firearm regulations that exceed state guidelines.
“We as a city cannot legislate out of that,” Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said at an RNC security press conference Sunday.
“Unless there’s something that is against state law, we have to respect Second Amendment rights, especially in regards to open-carry and conceal-carry if you’re licensed,” he added.
According to ABC News, the FBI special agent in charge of the agency’s Wisconsin field office mentioned an anticipated increase in threats seen online.
After stating that no changes would be made to the security plan, Secret Service officials announced Monday morning they had reviewed and reinforced the security measures for the RNC.
“This event is designated as a national special security event, which is the highest level of security for an event that can be designated by the government. So, this is a whole of government approach. We’ve had an extensive planning process to include many organizations,” Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the Secret Service’s RNC coordinator, said.
Gibson-Cicchino also confirmed there were no intentions to expand the convention perimeter and indicated she was unaware of any request from Evers to prohibit guns in the outer perimeter, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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Below is the full list of items that have been banned within all public areas of the security footprint:
- Lumber larger than 2 inches in width and 0.25 inches thick, including supports for signs
- Metal, plastic, or other hard material more than 0.75 inches thick and 0.0125 inches in wall thickness, including pipes and tubing
- Air rifles, air pistols, paintball guns, blasting caps, cestus or other combat gloves, billy clubs, blackjacks, swords, sabers, hatchets, axes, slingshots, BB guns, pellet guns, wrist shots, wrist rockets, metal knuckles, nunchucks, iron buckles, ax handles, shovels or other things that could be used to hurt people or damage property
- Explosives, explosive devices, or incendiary devices
- Fireworks or rockets
- Drones or other unmanned aircraft systems and devices
- Containers of bodily fluid or waste
- Containers of flammable liquid
- Aerosol cans
- Mace, pepper spray, OC spray, or other chemical irritants
- Umbrellas with a metal tip
- Projectile launchers, including slingshots, water guns, or water cannons
- Adhesive, rope, chain, cable, strapping, wire, string, line, tape, or similar materials longer than 6 inches
- Glass bottles, ornaments, light bulbs, ceramic vessels, or other fragile or brittle containers, whether or not the container holds any substance
- Locks, without limitation, including padlocks, bicycle locks, chain locks, or similar devices
- Tents or other shelters, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, mattresses, cots, hammocks, bivy sacks, or stoves
- Coolers or ice chests
- Backpacks or bags bigger than 18 inches by 13 inches by 7 inches
- Lasers
- Non-plastic containers, bottles, cans, or thermoses
- Ladders
- Grappling hooks, sledgehammers, hammers, crowbars, or pry bars
- Canned goods
- Tennis balls or other similarly sized balls
- Gas masks or similar devices used to protect against irritating or noxious gasses (This does not include medical oxygen or cloth masks, and N95 or KN95 surgical masks used as PPE to avoid transmission of viruses. Law enforcement and emergency responders acting in their official capacities are exempt.)