Allowing open carry at a Republican convention may not be a joke

Have you heard about the open-carry petition? It’s a petition on change.org demanding that the GOP allow delegates to openly carry guns at the convention in Cleveland because Ohio is an open-carry state, and because all the Republican candidates obviously revere the Second Amendment.

Now when I saw this on change.org I said to myself, “this is a parody.” The group responsible for it, “Americans for Responsible Open Carry,” doesn’t exist. And because the guy proposing it has the screen name “The Hypernationalist” and his profile picture is Abraham Lincoln.

And yet, as of 6 a.m. Monday, 41,885 people had signed it. And I know they’re probably just anti-gun people who appreciate a good troll.

However, the head of Ohio Carry a pro-gun group that does exist, said “[We] would love to see this petition take off and the RNC to allow law abiding citizens to carry at the event.”

And there’s no denying what the candidates have said about gun free zones.

“Has anyone in this room noticed that shooting after shooting after shooting occurs in so-called gun free zones.” – Ted Cruz

“I think gun free zones are a catastrophe. They’re a feeding frenzy for sick people.” – Donald Trump

“The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” – NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre

So even though this may have started as a joke, extending open carry to the convention would mean they actually believe this.

It would also mean that instead of covering the convention in person I’ll probably settle for watching it on television.