title:  Warnings Issued After NRA Fans Plan To Open Carry Guns Near President Obama
text: Once again pro-gun forces in America are trying to intimidate anyone trying to reduce gun violence   even the President himself.Ahead of President Obama s town hall about his executive action to reduce gun violence, warnings were issued about the likelihood of gun fans parading around outside the event brandishing their weapons.President Obama s town hall event on gun violence at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. on Thursday night is likely to provoke strong emotions. And the school s police chief is warning students and faculty that protesters could be carrying weapons on campus   legally. Please be advised that it is lawful to carry firearms in Virginia, and this includes at public outdoor spaces on our campus,  Thomas Longo, GMU s interim chief of police said in an email to the school s internal listserv. Though students are on winter break, the chief wrote that the University Police  will have officers present to ensure that all protesters remain law-abiding. Over the last few years the so-called  open carry  movement has paraded around with weapons in public as a way for gun extremists to show off to everyone how supposedly macho they are.In some cases, these protesters have taken their weapons into restaurants, supermarkets, and major chain stores like Target. Understandably, most parents don t want to have guns swinging around while they re trying to buy their weekly groceries and some stores have begun to ban the open carry crowd.The NRA   who chickened out when CNN invited them to this town hall   has pushed the president as the gun confiscator-in-chief, when in reality at best Obama has pushed for expanded background checks and limits on gun magazines. Now those who have been teed off by this organization   who pays its executives handsomely from their annual dues   have been driven to brandish guns outside an event under heavy secret service protection.It isn t smart, it s dangerous, and at best it will continue to make the pro-gun side of the debate come across as unhinged extremists.Featured image via Wikimedia