Why the RNC Is Banning Tennis Balls but Not Guns After Trump Shooting

Thanks to Wisconsin state law, guns will be allowed in the outer perimeter of the Republican National Convention even after Saturday’s assassination attempt against Donald Trump.

People can open-carry guns and conceal-carry with a permit in a less strict perimeter surrounding a “hard” perimeter controlled by the Secret Service around the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee as the RNC begins tonight. A Milwaukee city ordinance, however, bans tennis balls and paintball guns in the outer perimeter. Effectively, an AR-15 can be carried within walking distance of the RNC hall, but a paintball gun can’t, and it’s all thanks to Wisconsin’s open-carry laws.

“[It’s] utterly ridiculous,” Milwaukee City Alderman Robert Bauman 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?’”

Wisconsin’s laws also prevent local governments from passing gun laws stricter than what the state allows, preventing efforts to have guns added to the city’s ordinance. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, asked the Secret Service to extend a gun prohibition to the softer outer perimeter but was rebuffed, with the Secret Service stating that it was an issue of state law.

“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,” said Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman.

With Republicans having a strong pro-gun reputation, there was always going to be an issue of how firearms would be allowed at the RNC. But the fact that guns can’t be restricted thanks to open-carry laws, supported by Republicans, in the wake of an assassination attempt against Trump seems like an oversight at best, and dangerous at worst. The gunman who targeted Trump on Saturday was just outside of the Secret Service’s perimeter too.

Granted, the convention will be in a closed arena this time, unlike in Pennsylvania where the Trump shooting took place. But with Republicans still engaging in escalated political rhetoric, the Secret Service will have to be running a tight ship.