OMG u mean he's ALLOWED to carry a gun!!!

[MicroBalrog]

William Kostric, the exposed-carry gentleman, was impressive, especially under the pressure of having Matthews ranting and raving against him, and particularly so for basically being a "man off the street".  smiley

As far as I understand, he is an FSP/NHLA man.

[Balog]

Maybe Matthews was mad at the guy for interrupting his special time with a life size picture of Obama.

[Tim L]

The FSP forums also have a thread on it.

On Micro's link there is a link to an article on CBSNews.com that seems fairly well reported, no yelling and screaming.  Amazingly there is no mention of the Brady campaign; the Huffington post is countered by a link to the Free Sate Project. The yelling and screaming is left up to the comments section.  http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/08/13/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5238512.shtml

Interview: The N.H. Man With A Gun Outside Obama's Town Hall
When William Kostric showed up outside President Obama's town hall meeting in Portsmouth, N.H. on Tuesday, he didn't expect to be the object of a storm of media scrutiny. The handgun that was -- legally -- strapped to his leg in full view of the television cameras may have had something to do with it.

Kostric's name has popped up in over 72,000 Web pages posted in the last few days, according to a date-limited Google search. A New York Times columnist used him as an example in a piece that claimed members of Congress are looking "semiheroic" by comparison; Salon.com's headline read: "Who was that gun-toting anti-Obama protester?" After featuring Kostric at least twice on Tuesday, MSNBC returned to him the next day when asking Rep. Ron Paul, the former Republican presidential candidate, what he thought of being armed in public.

In an interview with CBSNews.com on Wednesday, Kostric said he is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and has carried his firearm openly in accordance with state law before. "We have a regular open carry contingent in New Hampshire," he said. "We do litter pickups and normal everyday events. People do that with their firearms... A right not exercised is a right lost."

The image of an armed man who was not a policeman anywhere near a presidential event sent TV commentators into fits -- especially when this one happened to be carrying a sign saying "It Is Time To Water The Tree Of Liberty," a reference to Thomas Jefferson's famous phrase. It also seemed to fit the theme of escalating violence and undercurrents of racism at town hall meetings, even though the first person hospitalized appears to have been one Kenneth Gladney, 38, a black conservative activist from St. Louis, who was handing out literature.

Over at the Huffington Post, the discussion has reached a remarkable 139 pages, and is still climbing. (Some of the more polite posts: "There was only one reason he brought that gun, to intimidate people, and one person in particular, President Obama" and "It is weird and unnecessary to carry a gun to a political event.") LavenderLiberal.com unearthed Kostric's MySpace page, which lists Atlas Shrugged as one of his favorite books, and discovered that he moved from Arizona to New Hampshire to join fellow libertarian-leaning types as part of the Free State Project.

Kostric, who is in his mid-30s and lives near Concord, N.H., said he never entered the town hall or laid eyes on Mr. Obama, who was ushered into the event held in a local school through a back entrance.

He has only positive things to say about New Hampshire police, who appeared to be familiar with state law regarding the carrying of firearms. "I did interact with the local Portsmouth police," he said. "They were quite professional... People expected me to get my face planted (on the ground). But it was handled professionally."

New Hampshire state law is pretty clear about protecting its citizens' rights to carry firearms in public. Carrying a pistol or revolver openly is permitted without a license; carrying a concealed weapon requires a license from the state or local police.

Maine and Vermont are similar in terms of gun rights, Kostric said. "And New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island are just horrible places to live if you care about the Second Amendment at all."

All U.S. states except Illinois and Wisconsin grant licenses for concealed carry, and the National Rifle Association says 36 states require local police to issue the licenses unless there's a valid reason (such as a criminal history) not to do so. Most states also allow carrying firearms that are not concealed, although details can vary even within states.

Kostric said the Portsmouth police initially asked him to move 1,000 feet away from the school, but then permitted him to stay on the grounds of a church because it was private property. (Federal law generally restricts carrying firearms within 1,000 feet of school grounds, but the law does not apply "on private property not part of school grounds" or to anyone with a carry permit, with Kostric says he has.)

"I was weighing my options," Kostric said. "I was considering walking out to the car and dropping off my firearm and coming back. (The policeman) got off hte phone and relayed to me, that if I wanted to stand on the church property, which is about 30 feet from where I already was, that would be acceptable because it was private property."

"When someone's wearing a gun, they're not automatically a criminal," Kostric added. "The only way to do that is to make it an average everyday thing."

[Balog]

"Undercurrents of racism"?!?! Decent piece aside from that.

[RocketMan]

"Undercurrents of racism"?!?! Decent piece aside from that.

When a leftist runs out of valid argument, or has no argument at all, then they often pull out the race card, even if it doesn't apply.

[Tim L]

UUHHGG.  I just spent 30 minutes reading some of the comments on the Huff post article, talk about your headaches!  Is there an aspirin in the house?     Balog hopefully I didn't miss too many more than that.

[Perd Hapley]

What was Matthew's response to the President's heavily armed security detail, and their guns? 

[Viking]

Or so he says on this board.

Secretly, MW is Ron Paul.

Now that is scary case of multiple personality disorder then...

[RevDisk]

Obviously, I'm missing something...

Some dude is complying with the law, being courteous and polite to the police (and vice versa), following police directions, well spoken, and not acting in any aggressive manner.  His only 'bad activity' is quoting a US President, who also happened to write the Constitution.  The other side assaulted a minority due to his political beliefs, is upset because the police didn't break the law to harass a law-abidding citizen, and is generally unhappy that folks are dissenting?

...

Yet, we're supposed to be the racist lunatics and they're the compassionate level headed folks?  So what am I missing here?

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

So what am I missing here?

You're missing a strong dose of mindless liberal bias.

[RevDisk]

You're missing a strong dose of mindless liberal bias.

Yea.  Reminds me of the conservative support for blatantly unconstitutional programs of the last administration.  I'm not trolling, I'm quite serious.  Folks would blindly support 'their guy', just because the President was on their team.  They didn't read the summaries, let alone the details, of the laws their 'team' was passing. 

Don't get me wrong.  Obama is significantly worse.  By several orders of magnitude.  I'm just pointing out the excessive party loyalty has created monsters.  I didn't think anyone could blow more money than Bush and the Republican Party, no one really did.  Gods were we wrong.  Even Ted Rall apologized to Bush and wishes we had him back.

[Perd Hapley]

  His only 'bad activity' is quoting a US President, who also happened to write the Constitution. 

If you mean Jefferson, he was not in on that little brainstorming session.  I believe he was in France at the time. 

[RevDisk]

If you mean Jefferson, he was not in on that little brainstorming session.  I believe he was in France at the time. 

Doh, I'm a bloody idiot.  I meant the Declaration.   Yea, he was in France during the drafting of the Constitution. 

[MicroBalrog]

More about this on the FSP site

[roo_ster]

Doh, I'm a bloody idiot.  I meant the Declaration.   Yea, he was in France during the drafting of the Constitution. 

Gouverneur Morris is not nearly as (philosophically) sexy as Thomas Jefferson and it is a damnsight more difficult to spell his first name.

Rick Brookhiser has a great short bio of GM:
Gentleman Revolutionary : Gouverneur Morris, the Rake Who Wrote the Constitution

[Doggy Daddy]

Yea.  Reminds me of the conservative support for blatantly unconstitutional programs of the last administration.

Not this conservative.

And I liked Bush...  still do.  That doesn't mean that I blindly approve of everything he did.

DD

[Ben]

Now Kostric is being thrown into the, "wacko's who want Obama dead" crowd. Nice unbiased reporting and research by ABC. 

------------
The Secret Service is investigating a Maryland man who held a sign reading "Death to Obama" and "Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids" outside a town hall meeting this week. And in New Hampshire, another man stood across the street from a Presidential town hall with his gun on full display.
------------
Full article:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=8324481&page=1

[BReilley]

From the deep recesses of my mind I recall that during Bush 43's for run for president, his wife, Laura Bush, was at a rally somewhere in Tejas.  At same said rally was a gaggle of black power protesters (Black Panthers, IIRC) carrying a number of AR pattern "assault weapons" (again, IIRC).  I don't recall any media heavy breathing at the time.

Curious how the sauce is different for goose and gander.

Honestly, I'd be more nervous around the guys who brought clubs to voting locations than I would of protestors with rifles.  Once again we consider the fact that those who plan violence generally don't advertise their intent.

[MicroBalrog]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0Tas00WZ0Q Here's a new interview with the fellow, made by the original wookie-suit guy.

[MicroBalrog]

The Media keeps at it

[RocketMan]

It continues.  It looks like the whole OC at protests thing is catching on.  However, it is AZ.
Up to six protestors were spotted carrying arms.

From CNN:

Man carries assault rifle to Obama protest -- and it's legal

PHOENIX, Arizona (CNN) -- A man toting an assault rifle was among a dozen protesters carrying weapons while demonstrating outside President Barack Obama's speech to veterans on Monday, but no laws were broken. It was the second instance in recent days in which unconcealed weapons have appeared near presidential events.

A man is shown legally carrying a rifle at a protest against President Obama on Monday in Phoenix, Arizona.

 Video from the protest in Phoenix, Arizona, shows the man standing with other protesters, with the rifle slung over his right shoulder.

Phoenix police said authorities monitored about a dozen people carrying weapons while peacefully demonstrating.

"It was a group interested in exercising the right to bear arms," said police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill.

Arizona law has nothing in the books regulating assault rifles, and only requires permits for carrying concealed weapons. So despite the man's proximity to the president, there were no charges or arrests to be made. Hill said officers explained the law to some people who were upset about the presence of weapons at the protest.

Link to story: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/17/obama.protest.rifle/index.html

[RevDisk]

"It was a group interested in exercising the right to bear arms," said police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill.

Arizona law has nothing in the books regulating assault rifles, and only requires permits for carrying concealed weapons. So despite the man's proximity to the president, there were no charges or arrests to be made. Hill said officers explained the law to some people who were upset about the presence of weapons at the protest.

What's with the police being so dang reasonable?   They're supposed to be JBT's, itching to oppress!   

Seriously though, hats off to Sgt Hill and the rest of the officers.  It's always nice to hear stories about integrity and professionalism, it's rarely covered by the media compared to "Officers Gone Wild" antics. 

[HankB]

. . . Reminds me of the conservative support for blatantly unconstitutional programs of the last administration.  I'm not trolling, I'm quite serious.  Folks would blindly support 'their guy', just because the President was on their team . . .

In two elections, I didn't vote for Bush; I held my nose, suppressed my gag reflex, and voted against Gore and against Kerry. Bush got some things right, but there were a number of things that people such as myself didn't support.

[Balog]

Police spokesman Sgt Andy Hill is my hero for the day. I can't recall the last time a cop shill said something I so heartily approve of. Good on him, and his department.

[Ben]

Some interesting quotes in the below linked story:

Arizona University Political Science Professor:

"The larger the gun, the more menacing the situation," he said.

Brady Campaign:

"To me, this is craziness," he said. "When you bring a loaded gun, particularly a loaded assault rifle, to any political event, but particularly to one where the president is appearing, you're just making the situation dangerous for everyone."

Secret Service:

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said armed demonstrators in open-carry states such as Arizona and New Hampshire have little impact on security plans for the president.

"In both cases, the subject was not entering our site or otherwise attempting to," Donovan said. "They were in a designated public viewing area. The main thing to know is that they would not have been allowed inside with a weapon."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090818/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_protesters_guns_4