Gov. Tony Evers seeks to bar firearms near RNC but the move is unlikely to succeed
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has requested that the decision to allow firearms within the soft perimeter of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee be reconsidered "immediately" following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, a source with knowledge of the discussion shared with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The request was made to the U.S. Secret Service, which would relay the governor's concerns to the Republican National Committee, the source said.
But the request appears likely to go nowhere. The power to ban firearms in the security "footprint" outside the credentials-only "hard" security zone seems to rest with the state, not the Secret Service, the RNC or the City of Milwaukee.
U.S. Secret Service spokesperson Alexi Worley said banning guns in the wider security “footprint” is not within the federal agency’s authority and “not something the U.S. Secret Service has any control over.”
A short-lived effort at City Hall to ban guns within the security footprint failed because local governments like Milwaukee are precluded under state law from enacting gun regulations more stringent than the state's. Wisconsin allows both concealed carry and open carry.
Instead, the city ended up with a city ordinance banning a host of items within the security footprint but allowing most firearms in the area.
The governor believes it is "exceedingly important that additional steps be taken to keep convention participants and attendees, law enforcement and the local community safe," the source said.
Evers previously issued an executive order in May allowing city, state and federal officials to gather resources ahead of the convention to respond to potential emergencies and to plan for large-scale events. The order, issued at the request of the City of Milwaukee and Wisconsin Emergency Management Agency, left open the possibility of mobilizing the Wisconsin National Guard if needed.
The order allows for easier cooperation between local and out-of-state law enforcement agencies for security duties and gives all participating officers the power of arrest. A similar declaration would have been issued in 2020 ahead of the Democratic National Convention if the pandemic had not forced the event to be scaled back, the governor's office said at the time.
Following the attack on Trump at a campaign rally Saturday in Pennsylvania, Evers has asked the Secret Service if additional state resources are needed, if additional federal resources will be supplied and whether any adjustments will be made to the current security plan, according to the source.
Evers has received security briefings but has requested an additional briefing related to any updates based on Saturday's events.
Just days before his expected confirmation as the Republican Party's presidential nominee in Milwaukee, Trump was rushed off stage — his ear and face streaked with blood — after an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement that the suspected shooter, now dead, fired multiple shots toward from an elevated position outside of the rally venue. One person was killed and two others were critically injured.
The shooting came two days before the Republican National Convention is set to convene in Milwaukee.
Trump said he would still arrive in Milwaukee on Sunday, despite originally planning to delay his arrival following the shooting.
"Based on yesterday's terrible events, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin, and The Republican National Convention, by two days," he wrote, "but have just decided that I cannot allow a 'shooter,' or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else."
Earlier in the day, President Joe Biden said he asked the Secret Service to "review all security measures" for the RNC in Milwaukee.
"As I said last night, there's no place in America for this kind of violence or any violence for that matter," Biden said Sunday. "As assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation."
Guns will not be allowed inside Fiserv Forum or other buildings where RNC events are set to take place, or in the "hard perimeter" around the convention, where credentials are required for entry, aside from those possessed by working law enforcement officers, according to a Secret Service spokesperson.
Under the existing plans, however, most guns would not be banned in the area immediately outside the RNC perimeter, known as the security "footprint," because the city is prevented by state law from enacting such a ban.
Jessie Opoien can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tony Evers seeks to bar firearms near RNC following Trump shooting
