On Monday, dozens of articles claiming that the NRA convention would not allow members to carry their firearms while attending Vice President Mike Pence’s speech were flagged as potential “fake news” on Facebook.
“NRA Convention Bans Guns To Protect Mike Pence. Parkland Survivors’ Jaws Drop,” Huffington Post reported.The Washington Post also pointed to the reaction of Parkland students and parents as its news-hook: “The NRA said guns will be banned during a Pence speech. Parkland students see hypocrisy.”
Headlines suggesting that this decision was directly from or influenced by the NRA are misleading. The NRA convention did not ban guns; the Secret Service did. The Huffington Post and Washington Post articles do mention the Secret Service.
In a routine decision, the Secret Service is banning guns (along with selfie sticks, backpacks, drones, and a list of other items) from Pence’s speech at the NRA convention in Dallas; just as the Secret Service did during Trump’s appearance at the NRA convention last year and the Republican National Convention the year before that.
The Secret Service has the authority to prohibit firearms from any location the people it protects visit. (Title 18, Section 3056 of the U.S. Code lays out the “powers, authorities, and duties of United States Secret Service.”)
Headlines, tweets, and Facebook posts suggesting that the NRA made the decision to ban firearms during Pence’s speech are inaccurate.
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