WASHINGTON — (CNN) A widely-circulated petition pushing organizers of this summer’s GOP convention in Cleveland to allow firearms into the venue wasn’t enough to convince the U.S. Secret Service.
The agency said Monday it won’t allow any firearms past a perimeter and into the convention hall, despite the urging of pro-gun activists who called for Ohio’s open-carry laws to extend into the Quicken Loans Arena.
“Individuals determined to be carrying firearms will not be allowed past a predetermined outer perimeter checkpoint, regardless of whether they possess a ticket to the event,” a Secret Service spokesman said in a statement.
The agency cited federal law authorizing them to prevent firearms from entering sites that protectees are visiting.
“Only authorized law enforcement personnel working in conjunction with the Secret Service for a particular event may carry a firearm inside of the protected site,” the Secret Service said.
The petition, which went online a week ago, had garnered almost 45,000 signatures by Monday afternoon. It pressed remaining GOP candidates and the Republican National Committee to demand firearms be permitted into the arena.
“In order to ensure the safety of your supporters, delegates and all attendees at the convention in July, you must call upon the RNC to rectify this affront to our Second Amendment freedoms and insist upon a suspension of the Quicken Loans Arena’s unconstitutional ‘gun-free zone’ loophole,” the petition reads.
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