Baton Rouge, Louisiana January 21
We arrived early to hear Dr. Ron Paul speak today at the Bellmont's Great Hall. Yes, I was openly carrying, as I have done daily for appx. 10 years. The owner of the facility personally greeted me and inquired about the open carry issue. Once she was satisfied, we continued to wait for Dr. Paul's arrival along with quite a strong showing of Baton Rougeans. Due to the standing room only crowd, we stood alongside the wall and stayed there the entire event. Dr. Paul's reception was quite vocal, except for the two Mitt Romney supporters who stood quietly holding their signs. Halfway through the speech, I was asked to step outside into the lobby, where an East Baton Rouge deputy politely stated, and I quote, "you have every right to carry a gun, but Dr. Paul asked that you put it in the car until the event is over." Rather a strange request by someone who purports to support the second amendment. Instead of hiking to the back forty, I unholstered, unloaded and handed it to the deputy, told him that HE could hang onto it, I'll get it afterwards. Upon completion of Dr. Paul's presentation, I approached the same deputy who stood guarding Dr. Paul. There, within 10 feet of a presidential candidate, in plain view of the media and the appx. thousand folks standing in line to shake his hand, I was given my . 357 which I proceeded to reload. Afterwards, Dr. Paul turned and shook my hand while the greeting line waited. Dr. Paul's security chief apologized for the incident.
