National Rifle Association spokeswoman Dana Loesch on Monday fact-checked an error that might have been only the second-worst mistake in an Associated Press tweet, which read: “NRA bans guns at President Trump, VP Pence speeches during it's annual meeting in Dallas.”
Loesch noted it was inaccurate to report that the NRA had imposed the ban, since the Secret Service dictates security measures for the president and vice president. She overlooked the it's/its slip-up, arguably more egregious for the keeper of journalistic grammar and style.
The AP tweeted a correction two hours later.
What makes the skirmish interesting is Loesch's remark that “the media does this every year.” She is right — not in the sense that news outlets constantly make the specific mistake the AP did but in the broader sense that they routinely assign a measure of hypocrisy to pro-gun groups such as the NRA when the groups host events where firearms are prohibited.
The question is whether it is, in fact, hypocritical for the NRA to proclaim the danger of gun-free zones yet allow part of its convention to become one, if the mandate comes from the Secret Service.
And the deeper question is whether the NRA and its political allies truly believe people are safer when more law-abiding citizens are armed.
If the answer to the latter were yes, then the NRA might be expected to push back, publicly or privately, against the Secret Service's decision to ban guns during appearances by Trump and Pence on Friday.
It should be noted that on-site security screenings in Dallas will make it extremely difficult for a person with bad intentions to sneak in a weapon. The NRA might reasonably argue — though it hasn't, on the record — that the everyday need for its members to carry guns in public places, just in case, will be mitigated by metal detectors and pat-downs.
Still, the presence of armed Secret Service agents is an acknowledgment that there is always some potential risk to the president and vice president. According to NRA orthodoxy, Trump and Pence would be even safer if armed Secret Service agents were supplemented by armed NRA members.
But the NRA has presented no such argument in public. I asked a spokeswoman whether the NRA agrees with the Secret Service security protocol and whether the NRA tried to convince the Secret Service that more guns would make Trump and Pence more secure. The spokeswoman, Jennifer Baker, did not answer the questions directly but issued the following statement by email:
The NRA’s policy is to allow carry in accordance with local laws at NRAAM, including leadership forum. When the Vice President or President are on site that venue is no longer under NRA jurisdiction it is under the control of the United States Secret Service. They set the rules and I direct you to their spokesperson for questions /concerns regarding the rules governing the venue during the time they have control over the site. After the President and Vice President have left the venue NRA rules apply and people will be permitted to carry in accordance with local laws. To be clear the USSS rules are in effect until the President and Vice President leave the venue and only within then secure perimeter.
It is standard for the Secret Service to ban guns when people under the agency's protection attend events — even events where the right to bear arms is considered sacred. The 2016 Republican National Convention was a prime example.
“Title 18 United States Code Sections 3056 and 1752 provides the Secret Service authority to preclude firearms from entering sites visited by our protectees, including those located in open-carry states,” a Secret Service spokesman said in a statement at the time.
Note that the Secret Service said it has the authority, not the obligation, to ban firearms. The laws referenced by the agency do not require prohibitions on guns when people under Secret Service protection make public appearances. Even if there were such a legal requirement, the NRA could lobby the Republican-controlled Congress and Republican president to change the law.
Also, the Secret Service does make occasional exceptions that allow civilians to carry guns in the presence of presidents and vice presidents, such as on hunting trips.
Though security decisions ultimately lie with the Secret Service, the NRA could put up a fight. It might lose, but the NRA won't even say that the president and vice president would be safer surrounded by more guns.