Armed Protesters Carry Guns Near Obama Appearance in Arizona, Police Say

The protesters were taking advantage of an Arizona law that allows people to carry unconcealed guns, Phoenix Police Department spokesman Andy Hill said. Police made no arrests.

“Plainclothes police officers continually monitored the situation and no threats, either physical or verbal, were made,” Hill said in an e-mail.

The incident marks the third occasion in a week when guns have been linked to an Obama event. On Aug. 11, police arrested a man for having a loaded, unlicensed gun in his car near a New Hampshire school where Obama later held a health-care forum, USA Today reported. In a separate incident, another man outside that event displayed a gun in a holster on his leg, the paper said.

New Hampshire law allows people to carry unconcealed guns and the protester wasn’t arrested, said U.S. Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley.

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a Washington-based gun-control group, said the trend alarms him.

Bringing guns to “something where the president is speaking is craziness,” Helmke said. By arming themselves, the protesters stifle debate through intimidation, give other people a chance to grab a gun and potentially cause mayhem and distract law enforcement from other threats, Helmke said.