Guns are Allowed at the Republican National Convention But not Tennis Balls
Posted: Jul 14, 2016 5:21 PM CST
(CNN)Slingshots, sledgehammers, rockets and ... tennis balls?
The city of Cleveland has explicitly banned at least 72 kinds of weapons, gadgets and assorted hardware from the 1.7 square-mile "event zone" surrounding next week's Republican National Convention.
Not on its extensive list: Guns.
Ohio is an open-carry state, so local officials said they cannot prevent licensed gun owners from carrying their weapons around the external security perimeter.
"Our intent is to follow the law. And if the law says you can have open carry, that's what it says. Whether I agree with it or not is another issue," Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said at a news conference on Wednesday.
"There are certain things that go along with open carry that that person has to do," Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams cautioned. "You can't menace people, you can't brandish your weapon."
Dan Williams, a spokesman for Jackson, told CNN about open carry guns: "Bottom line, we're going to follow the law. It's state law. There's no state law on tennis balls."
Any types of firearms, weapons or explosives that are banned by the state of Ohio are also barred from the event zone.
Federal law allows the U.S Secret Service, which is administering a smaller "secure zone," to ban weapons of any kind, including guns, inside the Quicken Loans Arena, where GOP delegates will gather next week to nominate Donald Trump.
Here's a list of at least 72 things that are prohibited from the event zone:
- Lumber larger than 2 inches in width and 1/4 of an inch thick, including supports for signs
- Metal, plastic, or other hard material larger than 3/4 quarters thick and 1/8 of an inch in wall thickness including pipe and tubing
- Air rifles
- Air pistols
- Paintball guns
- Blasting caps
- Switchblade knives
- Automatic knives
- Knives having a blade 2.5 inches in length or longer
- Cestuses
- Billy clubs
- Blackjacks
- Swords
- Sabers
- Hatchets
- Axes
- Slingshots
- BB guns
- Pellet guns
- Wrist shots
- Metal knuckles
- Nun chucks
- Mace
- Iron buckles
- Axe handles
- Shovels
- Fireworks
- Rockets
- Sound amplification equipment
- Drones and other unmanned aircraft systems
- Containers of bodily fluids
- Aerosol cans
- Pepper Spray and other chemical irritants
- Umbrellas with metal tips
- Water guns
- Water cannons
- Ropes in lengths greater than 6 feet
- Chains in lengths greater than 6 feet
- Cables in lengths greater than 6 feet
- Strappings in lengths greater than 6 feet
- Wires in lengths greater than 6 feet
- Strings in lengths greater than 6 feet
- Lines in lengths greater than 6 feet
- Tapes in lengths greater than 6 feet
- Glass bottles
- Ornaments
- Light bulbs
- Ceramic vessels
- Padlocks
- Bicycle locking devices
- Chain locks
- Gas masks
- Tents
- Sleeping bags
- Sleeping pads
- Mattresses
- Cots
- Hammocks
- Bivy sacks
- Stoves
- Coolers
- Ice chests
- Backpacks and bags exceeding the size of 18" x 13" x 7"
- Lasers
- Non-plastic containers, bottles, cans, or thermoses
- Ladders
- Grappling hooks
- Sledgehammers
- Hammers
- Crowbars
- Canned goods
- Tennis balls
